


Speed

by Purple Streak (centaury_squill)



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: M/M, mainly bottom!Barry, you might want to skip chapter 19 if you don't like bottom!Harrison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-18
Updated: 2015-09-18
Packaged: 2018-04-04 20:36:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 31,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4152063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/centaury_squill/pseuds/Purple%20Streak
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Barry hears more than he bargained for. But that's just the start...</p>
<p>Begins immediately after "The Sound and the Fury" and follows its own alternate timeline from there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Cisco scowls at Hartley through the thick glass. "No way will I let you out, dude. I don't believe you know anything about what happened to Ronnie."

"What's this about Ronnie?"

Cisco jumps; he's been so intent on Hartley that he hasn't noticed the rest of the team arrive.

"Nothing, Caitlin," he says unconvincingly. "What's up?"

"We need you to look at some data," Caitlin says, looking from Cisco to Hartley and back again. "But what was he saying about Ronnie?"

"Caitlin," Dr Wells interrupts firmly. "Caitlin, you go back with Cisco and show him the data. I'll talk to Hartley."

Barry hovers uncertainly. He watches Caitlin and Cisco walk away, then turns to ask Dr Wells if he should go too. His mouth drops open in surprise at what he sees. Dr Wells has his wheelchair as close to Hartley's cell as possible, one outstretched hand splayed against the glass. On the other side, Hartley kneels, mirroring his gesture. It's so like Barry's own interaction with his father at Iron Heights that a lump comes into his throat.

Then he catches sight of Wells's expression, which is anything but fatherly, and the look of open lust in Hartley's eyes. Gulping, Barry backs away, still staring in fascination; finally he turns and runs back up to the lab.

/\/

Until seeing him exchange heated glances with Hartley Rathaway, Barry hasn't really thought of Dr Wells as a sexual being. He's been more of a mentor, a father figure even. Now, though, everything's changed. Barry finds himself watching Wells all the time, dwelling on the nape of his neck, his hair which sometimes looks as if someone just ran their fingers through it, the way his thin black jumper hugs his torso...

As if reading Barry's thoughts, Dr Wells scoots his chair away from the desk and leans back, arms stretched above his head. His jumper rides up, revealing a thin crescent of pale flesh. Mesmerised, Barry stares at it until he realises that Wells has noticed him.

Wells lowers his arms, very slowly, his eyes locked on Barry's. A tiny smirk comes into his face. Blushing furiously, Barry looks away.

/\/

Later, Barry's on his way to Jitters when he hears the first beat of a car alarm two blocks away. Without stopping to think, he finds himself next to a red Prius, his fingers gripping the arm of the would-be thief; a split second later he's at the precinct handing him over to Joe.

"Wow, I'm fast!" he thinks, with a little fist-pump. "Even better reaction time than on the range with Cisco's drones."

Barry zooms excitedly back to Star Labs, eager to tell the team - in particular Dr Wells - what's just happened. But when he arrives the place is deserted. Disappointed, he's turning to go when he sees the array of screens monitoring the containment facility. They're all alight, and on the centre one he can see Hartley Rathaway, sitting cross-legged on the floor, talking to someone the other side of the glass.

Barry leans over the monitor: the 'someone' is Dr Wells. Curiosity piqued, he turns up the audio.

"- not your guy anymore?" Hartley is saying. His voice vibrates with pain.

Wells grimaces. "Hartley..." he says. He looks down at his lap, then back up at the other man. "Hartley, I couldn't have built the particle accelerator without you. Not in the time, anyway. And I needed -"

"- _speed_ ," Hartley interjects bitterly. "What _is_ your obsession with speed, Harrison? Is that why you chose your new pet – over me?" His voice breaks.

Wells clenches his fist, begins to manoeuvre his chair around.

"Wait!" Hartley screams. "I did _everything_ for you, and now you've got what you wanted, you do what? Just throw me away? Is that what you're gonna do to the _Flash_ when he's served your purpose, Harrison? _Is it_?"

Wells's lips tighten. "That was the intention," he says curtly.

Upstairs, Barry cannot believe his ears. Sick at heart, he zooms out of the lab at super-speed. A few loose papers flutter to the ground in his wake. He doesn't hear Wells add to himself, very softly:

"At least, it was to begin with."


	2. Chapter 2

Of course Barry comes back to the lab eventually, making excuses to himself for Wells, because that's what Barry does. He's unusually subdued, though, and won't meet Wells's eyes. Dr Wells looks at him thoughtfully for a moment, then turns back to his screen without a word.

The moment of tension is broken by Cisco, who hails Barry with a cheery "Yo, dude! Come look at this."

_This_ is a display on the largest of Cisco's many screens. Barry crosses the lab, peers over Cisco's shoulder. A miniature Barry, in his red Flash suit, is zipping around the screen. He's pursued by a bunch of drones, all firing missiles.

"I'm running a simulation for our next exercise at the range," Cisco explains. "Thing is -" his fingers rattle the keyboard "- even at your current maximum speed -" one finger stabs down " _this_ happens."

Two drones attack the speeding figure simultaneously; he evades five of their six missiles.

The sixth...

"KERBOOM!" yells Cisco.

"Kerboom," echoes Barry, grimacing at the red pixels smeared all across the screen.

/\/

Barry's glancing at his watch, realising he should have been at the precinct half an hour ago, when Joe walks in.

"Sorry, Joe," Barry says guiltily, "I was just gonna -"

"I'm not here to see you, Barry," Joe says. "Although maybe we should have a talk about your timekeeping some time." He crosses to Wells. "Dr Wells."

Wells looks up at him, waits.

"When do you intend to go back home?" Joe asks him.

Dr Wells removes his glasses. Barry, watching him from the other side of the room, catches his breath. For a moment Wells looks completely unfamiliar.

"Home," he says bitterly. "If only I could."

Then he sighs deeply, replaces his glasses, and the old Dr Wells is back.

"Soon, I imagine," he says. "I'm booked into the hotel till the end of the week; the repairs should all be completed by then." He gives Joe a hard stare. "Why do you ask?"

"We're still treating your apartment as a crime scene," Joe says. "You should check with us before you go back there."

Dr Wells swings his chair around, laces his fingers together. Barry thinks he seems agitated, and wonders whether he's thinking about Hartley Rathaway.

"You have no justification for that," Wells snaps at Joe. "I told you, the police should not have been called."

Ignoring this, Joe continues, "What we find odd, Dr Wells, is that your ceiling was shattered, glass everywhere, you can't walk - and yet there's not a mark on you."

Dr Wells waves his hand airily at Joe. "Obviously the perpetrator did not intend to harm me. A prank, as I said.“

"Hmmm." Joe doesn't seem convinced. Noticing Barry staring at him, he taps his watch, says irritably, "Shouldn't you be at work, son?"

/\/

"You OK Barry?" Joe sounds concerned.

Barry pauses in wolfing his pizza, shrugs, makes an unintelligible noise.

"Only you seem down these past coupla days," Joe says. "Anything wrong?"

Barry raises his eyebrows, shakes his head, reaches for another slice of pizza. "I'm fine," he mumbles.

"You don't seem fine," Joe persists. "I've known you all your life, son, and I can tell when something's bothering you. Is it Iris?"

Startled. Barry chokes out a laugh. "Iris? No. Why would -"

They're interrupted by the buzzing of Barry's phone. He hauls it out of his pocket, thumbs up the display.

"Message from Dr Wells," he says, jumping to his feet. "Trouble at his hotel." He sweeps up his jacket from the back of his chair. "Gotta go."

"Do you need any help?" Joe asks. "Maybe I should come with you."

Barry can't shake the feeling that Hartley Rathaway is behind this. Maybe he escaped from his cell and is threatening Dr Wells? He hardly hears what Joe's saying, something about not being alone with that man.

"I can handle it," he says, zooming to the door.

Joe shakes his head, mutters darkly, "I don't like this at all. There's something shady about this Wells guy."

But Barry has already gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Eobard Thawne stands at his twelfth floor hotel room window looking out over the city, phone still in his hand. It had been a sudden impulse to summon Barry, one he's already beginning to regret.

"Focus," he mutters to himself. "Gotta focus."

He's so close now - after fifteen years - so close to achieving his goal. He can't afford any distractions; he _must_ stay focussed. No, he can't afford any distractions, but he has to admit, Barry Allen's ass in his tight red leather Flash suit is very distracting indeed. Every time Barry turns round to leave S.T.A.R. labs on a mission, Eobard can't take his eyes off that pert, tempting, _sexy_ rear.

He angrily rakes his fingers through his hair. He _should_ be able to handle it: he's dealt with distractions like this before. But somehow Barry Allen is different; he's starting to affect Eobard's judgement. He used to kill anyone who endangered his goal without a second thought, but what did he do when Joe voiced his suspicions of Dr Wells? He should have been ruthless, should have killed Joe like swatting a fly, and at one time he would have done just that. But because Barry is fond of Joe, Eobard left a potential menace unneutralised, contenting himself with merely threatening the annoying Iris.

"Sloppy," Eobard chides himself. "Very sloppy." He doesn't understand what's happening. Can constant exposure to Barry's ideals be changing him? Why can't he deal with Barry as he's dealt with other distractions over the years? Hartley Rathaway, for example...

\/\

_Two years earlier_

"Working late again, Hartley?"

Hartley startles, looks over his shoulder. "Harrison! I thought you'd gone home."

He moves closer, registers the change in Hartley's expression as his personal space is invaded. "I never go home," he says, with a wry twist of his lips. "But you, Hartley -" his voice drops seductively, "-surely _you_ have a special someone to go home to?"

His eyes dwell on Hartley's Adams apple bobbing up and down as the younger man swallows hard; he smirks slightly. "Why don't we go into my office?" he suggests. "It's more ... private... there."

Hartley's face is flushed as he follows Harrison obediently, like a puppy. Inside the office off the main lab, Harrison locks the door, turns off the security cameras, glances at his watch.

"We have ten minutes until Security checks on us," he says calmly. "Shall we make the most of it?"

Hartley nods wordlessly, eagerly pressing against his boss. He's so ready it only takes a few minutes for Harrison's long, clever fingers to stroke him off.

"Harrison," he moans as he comes. "Oh god, _Harrison_."

"My turn now, I think," Harrison says, urging Hartley to his knees, pushing his crotch in his face.

Hartley gazes up at him with dumb devotion, his hand reaching for Harrison's zipper. His mouth is warm and wet, his sucking enthusiastic. He doesn't complain as Harrison thrusts deeper, his fingers buried in Hartley's hair, his face taut with concentration.

And as Harrison shoots his load down Hartley's throat, he reflects smugly that Hartley will work all the harder on his particle accelerator after this... _encouragement_.

\/\

_Present day_

Eobard's brought back from memories of Hartley by a loud rapping on the door.

"Dr Wells! Dr Wells, are you OK?" It's Barry Allen's voice.

Eobard gets into the wheelchair, settles the glasses on his nose; it's Dr Wells who glides across the room, palms the door lock. "Come in, Mr Allen."

Barry rushes inside, shouting, "What's wrong, Dr Wells?" His head whips from side to side as he scans the room; he looks startled when all he sees is Wells. "What's the threat, doctor?" he asks, confused.

"I'm afraid I misled you, Mr Allen," Wells says. "There is no threat. The truth is..." He pauses, wondering which 'truth' to tell.

In the end he surprises himself as much as Barry by saying simply, "The truth is, I was lonely."


	4. Chapter 4

Barry stands stock still, staring down at Dr Wells. "You sent an urgent message summoning the Flash because you're - _lonely_?"

Wells raises his hands, drops them back down onto the arms of his chair. "I cannot blame you for your incredulity, Mr Allen," he says. "The fact is -"

He spins the chair, skims over to the floor-to-ceiling window. His back to Barry, looking out over the city, he continues, "- the fact is, I hardly know myself why I did it."

Barry makes a noncomittal little noise.

"This past week has been difficult for me," Wells says jerkily, still staring out over the city. "Since the - accident, when I haven't been at S.T.A.R. labs, I've been in my apartment - hiding away, if you will. Now that's been taken away." He swings the chair around, looks intently up at Barry. "This change to my routine has been hard for me." He gestures around the hotel room. "This is all very well, but it doesn't cater for my - disabilities - the way my apartment does."

Barry looks at him, eyes troubled. What Wells says sounds reasonable, but Barry's sure there's something else, something Wells isn't saying. "I am sorry, Dr Wells, but why call on me?"

Wells folds his arms. "Barry, am I right in thinking things have been a little - off - between us over the past few days?"

Barry hesitates, frowns, not sure whether to answer. Eventually, he says, "There is something..."

Wells nods encouragingly, raises his eyebrows.

Barry fidgets, rubbing his ear, passing his hand over the back of his neck, pacing up and down. Eventually he nods, flops into a chair opposite Wells. "A coupla nights ago, I came back to the lab unexpectedly," he says. "I'd just caught a car thief - no big deal, but I was _really_ fast, you know? I thought I'd like to share it with the team." He pauses, frowning.

"Yes?" Wells says.

Barry shrugs. "Nobody was there," he says. "I was gonna leave, then I saw the monitor for Hartley Rathaway's cell."

"And?" Wells sounds wary. "You saw something that bothered you?"

"I _heard_ something," Barry says. He leans forward in his chair. "Dr Wells, Hartley Rathaway was saying that you'd just - thrown him away." Barry grimaces, passes his hand across his face. "Then he said, were you gonna do the same to the Flash, when he'd served your purposes?" Barry thumps himself on the chest; there's a world of hurt in his voice as he adds, "And you said - yes."

It's Wells's turn to frown. "No, no, no," he says in agitation. "No, Barry. You must have that wrong. I'd never throw _you_ away."

Barry looks stubborn. "Excuse me, Dr Wells, but I know what I heard."

Wells brings his fist crashing down on the arm of his chair. "There's only one way to settle this, Mr Allen," he says. "Take us to S.T.A.R. labs."

"Now?"

" _Now_."

/\/

Barry settles Wells in a chair in front of the lab's security monitors. Wells is flushed from their journey, an exciting speedster zoom along the city streets in a blur of light. Barry again feels the tug of desire he's lately been trying to suppress.

Dr Wells selects the display currently showing Hartley Rathaway asleep in his cell. "We need to call up the relevant recording," he says. "What date and time of day am I looking for?"

Barry thinks. "Uh - it woulda been last Tuesday," he says. "About nine pm."

Wells's long fingers dance over the controls. On the display, Barry sees Dr Wells's wheelchair moving away from Hartley Rathaway's cell.

"Back a bit," he says.

Wells taps the screen; the wheelchair zooms backwards.

"There - wait -" Barry says, his hand on Wells's arm. Wells looks back over his shoulder at him, nods, taps the screen again.

Hartley's voice comes loudly over the speaker. "- _everything_ for you, and now you've got what you wanted, you do what? Just throw me away? Is that what you're gonna do to the _Flash_ when he's served your purpose, Harrison? _Is it_?"

Dr Wells's voice answers him. "That was the intention."

Barry catches his breath. He's about to yell in anguished vindication, when he hears Wells say something else, very quietly.

"Huh, what was that?" Barry asks.

Dr Wells amps up the audio, replays the clip. This time Barry hears it clearly.

"At least, it was to begin with."

Barry's hand tightens on Wells's arm. "What did you mean, to begin with?"

Wells brings up his own hand to cover Barry's. "To begin with," he says, "I thought you'd soon round up all the metahumans created when the particle accelerator blew, and then I'd -"

"Cut me loose?" asks Barry.

"Let you get on with your life," amends Wells. "But that was before -" his hand rubs Barry's, "- before I came to care about you so much." His voice drops. "So _very_ much."

Barry can't help himself. Full of relief, he stoops and kisses Harrison Wells, very gently, on the lips. Harrison's lower lip trembles slightly, soft and warm against Barry's mouth. Then Barry feels Harrison's tongue probing insistently, parts his lips to let it in. 

After a long moment, Harrison breaks the kiss, stares speculatively into Barry's eyes and says hoarsely, "I think we'd better go back to my hotel - if we're to continue this?"

"You betya," Barry says enthusiastically, and scoops him up from the chair.


	5. Chapter 5

"Not in my wheelchair," Wells says as Barry whisks him back into his hotel room. "On the bed, please."

Barry nods, braces himself, lowers Wells gently down so his legs are stretched out on the bed, his torso upright, propped against the headboard.

"You look a little overheated in that suit, Barry," Wells says, deadpan. "Why don't you take it off?"

"Naw, Cisco built in this neat thermal decoupling -" Barry begins, then sees Wells's smirk, "- and you didn't really mean that, did you?" He blushes adorably. "Huh, maybe it is a little warm in here." There's a red blur, and Barry's standing there in his tighty-whiteys.

Wells peels off his own trademark black jumper, throws it aside, pats the coverlet beside him in invitation. Barry doesn't need asking twice: he bounds onto the bed so enthusiastically it slams into the wall. "Oops," he says, with a cheeky grin.

"Now, where were we?" Wells murmurs, reaching for him.

They're in the middle of a kiss so heated that Barry's whole body starts vibrating, when they hear the buzz of his phone.

"Crap," Barry says, and zips across the room to retrieve it. "It's Joe," he says, looking at the display. He raises the phone to his ear. "Hi Joe, what's up?"

He listens for a moment, rolls his eyes. "I'm fine, Joe. Really. Your suspicions of Dr Wells are just ridiculous!" He winks at Wells, inviting him to share the joke, but Wells isn't smiling.

"No, but I gotta go now," Barry tells Joe, who has obviously been bending his ear. "And, Joe? I won't be back to yours tonight. See you tomorrow, 'kay? Bye!" He drops the phone onto the dressing table, runs his fingers through his hair.

"Sheesh! Joe's a great guy, but he will worry about me."

"Understandable," Wells says, "if annoying."

"Yeah. Hey, I just need to go to the bathroom, Dr W- Harrison. Where -?"

"Through there," Wells says, nodding towards the en suite.

The minute Barry's closed the bathroom door behind him, Wells zaps across the room at super-speed and grabs Barry's phone. "No more interruptions tonight," he says firmly, switching it to flight mode.

He's back on the bed, stripped to his boxer shorts, long before Barry comes out of the bathroom.

/\/

"Slow down, Barry," gasps Harrison. "frottage at super-speed can lead to problems with friction - aarrggghhhh!"

They're still in their underwear, and the thin cotton is starting to smoulder.

"Yikes!" Barry exclaims, grabbing a glass of water from the bedside table and sloshing it over their crotches.

"You could just have fanned us at speed," Harrison begins, ruefully eyeing his soaked jockeys. Then his glance travels to Barry's erection, clearly visible through his clinging, wet, translucent briefs, and he continues, "- or maybe not."

Barry laughs. "Guess I've a lot to learn about speedster sex."

Harrison starts to speak, stops, pulls Barry on top of him again with a long sigh of pleasure.

Barry nuzzles Harrison's jaw, feeling fresh stubble rough against his skin, smelling Harrison's sharp, masculine scent. Falling into a sensuous trance, drowning in sensation, Barry starts to move again, slowly, rhythmically, savouring Harrison's moans, the blissed-out look on his face.

Harrison, too, is giving himself up to the moment, to the feel of Barry's smooth young skin against his own, the loving look in his eyes, his enthusiastic strength. Excitement builds as Barry's cock brushes against his, faster and faster. _Too_ fast... Suddenly Harrison's aware there's something wrong: Barry's convulsing, shocky, his eyes rolling back in his head.

"Dammit, I should have realised something like this might happen," Harrison mutters. He grabs Barry's upper arms. "Barry, listen to me. The speedster sex is overloading your system. You have to climax _now_ , before it gets worse."

"I - I c-c-c-can't -" Barry stutters.

"Yes, you can," Harrison says urgently, reaching down to Barry's cock. "Trust me, Barry. Let's do this."

Coaxing and peremptory by turns, his hand firmly wrapped around Barry's vibrating erection, he finally brings him to the brink.

"Come, Barry, _come_!" he shouts.

And Barry does.

/\/

Barry slowly opens his eyes, groans. He's lying on the bed next to Harrison, a scatter of snacks on the counterpane between them. "Wh' happen'?"

"You blacked out. Here, you need to eat something, build your energy levels back up." Harrison indicates the assortment beside him: salted cashews, miniature peanut butter cups, an opened bottle of Becks. "All I had left in the minibar, I'm afraid. Next time we'd better get some room service in advance."

Barry grins at the thought of a next time. "How did you know what to do?" he asks, reaching for the packet of peanut butter cups.

Harrison looks away. "I, uh, researched the possible side effects of speedster sex. Purely theoretical, of course. Here - let me do that; you're still a bit shocky." Barry's hands are shaking so badly he's spilled the sweets all over the bed. Harrison picks them up and feeds them to him, one by one. Then he holds the Becks to Barry's lips. "Take it slowly, now."

At last, comforted and assuaged, Barry sinks back down on the bed, his eyelashes fluttering shut. "Dr W- Harrison," he murmurs.

"Yes, Barry?"

"Thanks for taking care of me."

"Always."

"I feel so safe with you."

"Go to sleep, Barry."

"Mmm.... g'nigh..."

Barry's curled trustingly on his side, a happy smile on his face. Harrison reaches over him, turns out the light.

"Goodnight, Barry."

But Barry's asleep already, snoring gently, like a purring cat.

Beside him Eobard Thawne lies staring into the darkness, long into the night.


	6. Chapter 6

_"My name is Barry Allen. Last night I made out with Dr Harrison Wells. Looking back now, I see he orchestrated the whole thing. He totally manipulated me. But I'm glad I was with him. Nobody else could've taken care of me when the speedster sex went weird. And up till then, everything was awesome. My whole BODY was vibrating at superspeed - the best feeling ever!_

_"But the REALLY weird thing? It was almost like he was vibrating, too."_

/\/

"Good day, Dr Wells."

"I have a feeling it will be, Gideon. Bring up my log, would you?"

"Certainly. Go ahead, doctor."

"New entry. Subject is continuing to develop his speedster powers..."

Wells pauses and smiles as he remembers just how fast Barry was vibrating against him last night. And how good it felt. Until the speed-shock kicked in... His smile fades; he resumes dictation.

"More research is needed into the effects of sexual intimacy on a speedster's system; in particular, ways of preventing sensory overload and prolonging orgasm."

"Dr Wells?"

"Yes, Gideon?"

"Are congratulations in order?"

"They just may be, Gideon." Wells is smiling again.

"And how does this affect your goal, doctor?"

Now Wells's smile is gone completely. The creases between his brows deepen; he sighs in frustration. "I wish I knew, Gideon." He touches a control and the familiar _Central City Citizen_ headline comes up. "The future still appears to be intact," he says.

But for once the thought fails to give the usual satisfaction.

\/\

"Dope!" Cisco says, admiring an extremely miniaturised piece of kit he's just finished building into an adhesive patch.

"What is it?" asks Caitlin. "It looks like a nicotine patch."

"Dr Wells asked me to make it -"

Caitlin raises her eyebrows. "I didn't know he smoked."

"- for Barry - "

"I didn't know _he_ smoked."

"- to deliver controlled amounts of high energy compound through his skin, depending on its frequency of vibration. Stops him getting the yips."

"I thought your energy bars he keeps in his Flash suit did that."

"Yeah, I know, I guess Dr Wells must have some special circumstances in mind."

They're interrupted by Wells himself, gliding up in his wheelchair.

"How's it going, Cisco?"

"OK, Dr Wells." Cisco proudly holds out his latest creation.

Wells takes it, examines it closely. "Good job, Cisco," he says.

Cisco preens. "I can test it out on Barry as soon as he gets here," he offers.

Wells shakes his head. "I'll test it out on him myself, later," he says, handing the patch back to Cisco. "Could you make a few more like it, please? Actually, make a lot more." He looks past Cisco, his whole face lighting up. "And here's Mr Allen now."

Barry sidles into the lab, blushing, carefully not looking at Wells.

Cisco and Caitlin exchange glances.

"Are you getting, a, I dunno, like a - _make out_ \- vibe?" Cisco hisses to Caitlin out of the corner of his mouth.

"Absolutely," says Caitlin, staring avidly at Barry and Dr Wells, who now have their heads together in a far corner of the lab. Wells puts his hand on Barry's arm; Barry lights up at him.

"Oh no," groans Cisco. "It'll be like Dr Wells and Hartley Rathaway all over again. They'll be closeted in his office at all hours, banging like bunnies."

Caitlin giggles. "Well, I think it's sweet," she says. "Dr Wells has been far too gloomy, lately. Barry will be good for him."

Cisco raises his eyebrows. "But will Dr Wells be good for Barry?" he asks darkly.

He looks down at the patch in his hand, shakes his head.

"At least now I know why he wanted me to make the delivery system independent of Barry's clothing..."


	7. Chapter 7

"Pssst!"

Barry looks up from his screen. "Whassit, Cisco?"

Cisco scoots his chair a little closer to Barry's. "OK pal. Dish the dirt. What did you and Wells get up to last night?"

Barry looks around the lab. Dr Wells's station is empty, a double helix twisting and turning on his unattended monitor. Nevertheless, Barry lowers his voice. "What makes you think we got up to anything?"

"Dude." Cisco's voice is pitying. "Why else would he have me making all these sex gadgets?"

" _Sex gadgets!_ " Barry's inadvertently raised his voice; seeing Caitlin look curiously across at them, he hastily lowers it again. 

"What sex gadgets?" he hisses.

"Oh, all sorts of things," Cisco improvises. "Fast-dispensing lube, programmable butt plugs, cock rings that tighten according to vibration frequency -" He has to turn away for a moment so Barry can't see his grin. "Here," he goes on, calling up an online catalogue on his screen, "this sort of thing, only adapted for speedsters."

Barry looks at the illustrations and chokes. Even his ears have turned red. Luckily, his phone buzzes at this moment; looking at the display, he says with relief, "I'm wanted at a crime scene."

And zips off without further delay.

Caitlin gives up her pretence of not listening. "Poor Barry," she giggles. "His face!"

She walks over to Cisco's monitors, looks over his shoulder. "Dr Wells didn't really ask you to make speedster versions of these, did he."

Cisco smirks, narrows his eyes. "He will."

/\/

Barry's crouched on the ground measuring various footprints and lengths of stride when he sees a pair of cop-issue shoes approach. It's Joe, and he doesn't look happy.

"Where were you last night, Barry?"

"I told you I wasn't coming back to yours," Barry says defensively.

"That wasn't what I asked."

"I was just - I was - I stayed the night with Dr Wells, OK? He was lonely."

"Lonely!" Joe puts a world of contempt and disbelief into the word. "Look, Barry, I don't interfere with your friendships. But Dr Wells is - he's -" Joe opens his palm, "- downright sinister."

Barry returns to his measurements, muttering, "I'm an adult, Joe."

"Not to me, you're not," Joe says. "And I've told you before, I strongly suspect Harrison Wells had something to do with your mother's murder."

Barry shakes his head vigorously. "No, Joe. Oh, no. You're wrong. Dr Wells is a good man. I'll stake my life on it."

Joe looks at him pityingly. "Oh, Barry. You may be doing just that."

/\/

Back at S.T.A.R. labs, Dr Wells is studying Cisco's illustrated online sex toy catalogue.

"So you've been teasing Barry, have you?" he asks. "What did you tell him, exactly?"

Cisco rolls his eyes, tries to look contrite. "Uh, just that you wanted me to adapt some of these for speedster use," he says.

Wells scans the screen carefully. "This one is superfluous," he says with a private smirk, indicating the picture of a vibrating butt plug. "In fact most of them are - although -" He drags out the last word, his attention caught by one of the pictures.

Cisco mouths, "Told you so," at Caitlin, but she isn't looking at him: her attention's on the display which shows the lab's entrance.

"Looks like we have a visitor."

A moment later, Felicity Smoak strolls in. "Hi, guys!" she says, smiling brightly.

"Hi!" chorus Cisco and Caitlin.

Dr Wells looks up from Cisco's screen. "Greetings, Ms Smoak," he says. "What brings you here?"

Felicity comes further into the lab. "We have some tricky analysis needs doing for a case we're working," she says, "and I was wondering whether S.T.A.R. labs might be able to help."

"A pleasure," says Wells. "Cisco, could you -?"

"Sure," says Cisco, smiling up at Felicity. "Where's the stuff you need analysing?"

"Back at my hotel," Felicity says. "I'll go and -" She breaks off, looking at the display. "What's this? I mean, it's obvious what it is, but why are you all looking at a sex toy catalogue?"

"Dr Wells is just deciding which one to use on Barry," Cisco whispers in her ear.

" _Really?_ " Felicity leans forward over Wells's shoulder, trying to figure out which item he's looking at. "That one looks interesting," she says brightly, then quickly adds, "er, not for me, obviously. I mean, I don't have a dick. Although I suppose a strap-on..." Her voice tails off as she notices them all staring at her. "And I'll just shut up now."

\/\

Night time in Dr Wells's hotel room; Barry and Harrison sit companionably by the window, looking out over the city. A room service cart stands beside them, loaded with goodies, including an ice bucket holding a large bottle of champagne.

"Drink, Barry?" asks Harrison, reaching for the bottle.

"Sure, thanks, but it's wasted on me really," Barry said. "You know I can't get drunk."

"Oh, I might be able to help with that," Harrison says, easing out the cork with a loud pop! and filling their glasses. "I've researched a speedster technique which may just make it potent enough for you."

He talks Barry through jiggling his glass in a particular sequence of frequencies between sips; Barry raises his eyebrows in appreciation.

" _Yeah_ ," he breathes, "this really hits the spot."

Harrison raises his glass. "To us!" he says, smiling at Barry.

Barry smiles back, pleasantly buzzed.

"To us!" he echoes happily, all Joe's dire warnings forgotten.


	8. Chapter 8

Harrison Wells sets his empty glass down on the low table with a decisive click.

"OK, Barry," he says, "shall we try out Cisco's latest tech?"

Barry looks at him, eyes wide, flashing on lurid images from Cisco's sex toy catalogue. But Harrison is reaching into his pocket, pulling out a strip of slightly bumpy patches. "Cisco showed you one of these, right? You stick them on your inner arm - elbow or wrist for choice - and they deliver high doses of energy as required."

Barry leans back, blowing out a long breath. "Wow," he says, beginning to laugh, "for a moment there I thought -"

Harrison eyes him, smirks. "I can imagine what you thought, Barry," he says drily. "Our Cisco is quite the joker, is he not?"

"Oh!" says Barry, "You mean you _didn't_ ask him to build all those, uh -"

"- vibrating butt plugs, frequency-dependent cock rings and the like? No. Although -" Harrison leans forward, eyes fixed on Barry's, "- it's quite the idea."

 _Not that any vibrating butt plug could compare to my cock resonating in Barry's ass,_ he thinks, then sighs. _And that's another thing I can't say out loud._

Barry grins a bit nervously. "Let's just test out these patches for now, huh?" He shrugs out of his plaid shirt, peels off a patch and slaps it in the crook of his elbow. "How many d'you think I'll need?"

"Depends how energetic you plan to be," smirks Harrison. "Maybe another couple?" His voice drops, turning serious. "Barry. You must realise this only solves the energy level problem. Not the sensory overload. I'm still researching that, and... other things."

Barry nods.

"You need to practice control," Harrison tells him. "I can help you do that."

Barry nods again, whisks Harrison over to the bed.

/\/

Propped up on his elbows, Barry contemplates Harrison's face at close range. Glasses removed, eyelids drooping, he looks completely different to the focussed, driven S.T.A.R. Labs scientist Barry is used to. This Harrison is relaxed, content, many of the lines smoothed from his face. Barry smiles, thinking how lucky he is to be with this man.

Harrison's eyes flicker open. "What are you thinking?"

"How lucky I am, to be making out with my hero," Barry says. "It's like having sex with - I dunno -" He struggles for a comparison. "- _Einstein!_ "

Harrison laughs. "You slay me, Barry," he says affectionately, reaching up and stroking Barry's hair. Then his eyes turn dark, his breathing speeds up, his hand urges Barry's head downward. " _My_ Barry."

Barry gives a little moan, lowers his head to kiss Harrison; first on the lips, then the throat, which he sucks and nips. Harrison lets him, realising that Barry, too, is feeling possessive. Barry's kisses become increasingly heated; he rolls off Harrison, begins squirming around on the bed. Harrison wonders what he's doing, then realises Barry is trying to position himself for a sixty-nine.

"Barry," he says, suddenly concerned at what might happen, "Barry, be -" But the 'careful' turns into an indistinct noise as Barry's cock is thrust into his mouth.

Barry wriggles into position, slurping on Harrison's dick. He's inexperienced, but enthusiastic. However, the sensation of Harrison's mouth around his own cock is distracting him; he feels his balls start to tighten, and only just has time to pull out before he's coming, in huge spurts, so hard they blast right across the room.

"Well, at least you didn't do that down my throat," Harrison says drily, eyeing the spunk sliding down the far wall.

Barry brings his hands up, tugs distractedly on his hair. "I am so, so sorry," he babbles. "I didn't realise -"

He looks down at Harrison's fully erect cock. "And you didn't - oh, I'm so sorry, let me take care of you -"

"No, wait," Harrison says, stopping him. "I have... plans... for this. But I need to go buy something first."

"Oh. OK," Barry says, slumping down on the bed. He's asleep before his head hits the pillow.

Harrison waits till he's sure Barry's dead to the world, then hastily dresses, picks up his wallet, and lets himself quietly out of the room. He knows there's a 24/7 drug store just a block away where he can be sure of getting some quality lube.

/\/

Eobard walks back along the hotel corridor towards his room, lube in his pocket, horny as hell, not taking his usual care not to be seen. He's too preoccupied musing on what he's going to do to Barry's sweet, tight ass to notice the person coming towards him until they've almost collided. Unfortunately for him, it's Felicity Smoak.

"Dr Wells?!" Felicity gasps, staring at his perfectly functional legs in disbelief.

Eobard raises his hand in reflex, ready to kill, before remembering that Barry cares for Felicity. _But then,_ he thinks sourly, _Barry seems to care for just about everybody he meets._

"Soon I won't be able to murder _anyone_ ," he mutters.

"Excuse me?" Felicity asks nervously. "What did you just say?"

"Nothing," Eobard tells her, taking her arm. "Listen, Felicity, I know you can keep a secret -"

"You're asking me to keep this quiet?"

"Just for now. It's important, Felicity."

"O-kay," Felicity says, looking at him dubiously. Then she gives a little squeal. "Is that a _love bite_ on your neck?"

Eobard touches his neck self-consciously. He can't keep a satisfied smirk from his face as he says, "Our Mr Allen."

" _Barry_ did that? You mean Cisco was right? _Oh_." Felicity pauses, thinking. "Does Barry know about this?" She gestures towards his legs.

Eobard shakes his head.

"You must tell him," Felicity says. "He'd never forgive you if you didn't."

"Oh, there's a lot he wouldn't forgive me for," Eobard says grimly. "But, Felicity, believe me: I would never do anything to hurt him."

She looks at him closely. "I do believe you," she says. "But, Dr Wells -"

"Yes?"

"If you want to keep him -"

"Yes?"

"You _must_ tell him yourself."

And she walks away along the corridor towards her room.

Frowning, Eobard watches her go. "And if I do that - if I tell him _anything_ ," he says to himself, "he, or Joe, will soon figure out the rest, and I'll lose him anyway. He'll recoil from me in horror. How could he not? I _did_ murder his mother..."

Eobard carries on along the corridor, fingering the tube of lube in his pocket. The closer to his room - and Barry - he gets, the hornier he becomes.

Soon he's running, everything else temporarily forgotten in his pressing need to plunder Barry Allen's ass.


	9. Chapter 9

Caught up in a blaze of lust, Eobard hasn't thought how he can fuck Barry without revealing he's no paraplegic. But in the event it wouldn't have helped if he had: he opens the door on a lamplit room and Barry, wide awake, staring straight at him.

There's a frozen moment which seems to last forever.

Then Eobard recovers, carries on into the room, closes the door firmly behind him. "I'll explain afterwards," he says.

"After what?" Barry asks, his forehead furrowed in confusion.

Eobard kicks off his shoes.

"After -" His jacket's hurled across the room, his shirt follows.

"- we take care of -" His pants hit the floor.

"- unfinished business."

He stands, head thrown back, hands on hips, erection jutting proudly, and grins challengingly at Barry.

"No, wait!" Barry exclaims. "This is huge!" He glances downwards, turns red. "Not your dick - uh, though it's pretty big - uh, I mean - you can _walk_. And you didn't tell me!"

"Were you and Felicity Smoak twins separated at birth?" snarks Eobard. "Never mind that now. I've said I'll tell you later, and I will, I promise."

He retrieves his tube of lube from his clothes, advances on the bed. "After all," he adds, with a meaningful look back at the semen stain on the wall, "you owe me."

Barry capitulates, as Eobard knew he would, and soon Eobard has him spread out face down on the bed. "My Barry," he murmurs, "Now I'm going to give you a lesson in self control."

\/\

Barry feels something warm and wet explore his crack, realises it's Harrison's tongue. He relaxes, enjoying the unfamiliar sensation, as his asshole is cherished. Then Harrison's hands are on his ass cheeks, stroking and parting, while Harrison breathes, "So smooth... so _young_..." - a slippery finger enters his hole - "... so tight."

More fingers explore, stretch, loosen. All the while Harrison is murmuring encouraging words: words of admiration, words of love. Then Barry gasps as Harrison's fingers are replaced by a well-lubed cock - it's so hard, so large, so intrusive as it pushes ever deeper inside him.

"Barry." Harrison's voice is insistent. "Barry, listen. You need to relax. Trust me."

Barry tries to obey, but it's difficult: he's on the edge of pain, his own erection beginning to wilt. Then Harrison withdraws - almost but not quite fully - and nudges against Barry's prostate.

"Yikes!" gasps Barry, almost coming on the spot.

Then the intrusion begins again...

Barry's in a different world, one in which he and Harrison Wells are the only occupants, one where pleasure and pain alternate until he doesn't think he can bear it any longer.

Then, at last, Harrison comes, to a loud shout of fulfilment, filling Barry's ass with his cum.

"Yesssssss!!!"

The jolt of Harrison's spunk against his prostate, the release of pressure as Harrison's cock softens inside him, are enough to set Barry off in his turn, and he comes, a long shuddering release against the bed linen.

He feels Harrison's teeth graze his shoulder, his neck; Harrison's breath hot in his ear as he whispers, "You're mine, Barry Allen. Mine."

Dazed, complaisant, Harrison's cum leaking out of his asshole and sliding slowly down his leg, Barry murmurs back, "I'm yours."

/\/

Eobard gives a long, satisfied sigh. His manipulation has worked: he'd used the pressure and pain his rock-hard cock gave Barry to keep the young man from coming until he, Eobard, was ready - a carefully calculated alternation of hard thrusts and gentle withdrawals, which brought Barry again and again to the verge of orgasm only to draw him back, until he begged, squirmed and sobbed beneath him.

Only then had Eobard come, satisfyingly balls-deep in Barry Allen's ass, and allowed his pupil his own release. And all this control also muted the sensory overload which gave Barry such problems before. A win-win.

Eobard allows himself a self-congratulatory smirk and tugs on his cock; it soon swells obediently in his hand, and he pushes it back into Barry's ass, still gratifyingly full of his spunk. Without thinking, Eobard begins to vibrate. He's only intending to give them both more pleasure, but when Barry tenses and looks back over his shoulder with dawning realisation in his eyes, Eobard realises what he's done.

"You're a speedster, too!" exclaims Barry.

He tries to snuggle closer, but Barry shrugs him off.

"But how? Why didn't - what - "

With a long, regretful sigh, Eobard pulls out, swings his legs over the edge of the bed, sits waiting for Barry to work it out.

"Did the particle accelerator explosion give you powers, too?" Barry asks. It's clear from his expression he knows he clutching at straws.

For a moment Eobard wonders whether he can persuade Barry that this is in fact the case, then realises he's tired of lying to him. Slowly, he shakes his head, drops his eyes from Barry's.

There's a long silence. When Eobard finally looks up, Barry is staring at him in horror.

" _You're_ the Reverse Flash?" he whispers.


	10. Chapter 10

Barry's buried his face in his hands, as if he can't bear to look at Harrison Wells anymore. His whole body is shaking. Eobard longs to comfort him, knows he can't. At last Barry groans out, his voice muffled by his fingers, "You _are_ the Reverse Flash?"

"Yes."

"So when you were beaten up by him - that was all a lie? _Everything's_ been a lie?"

"Not everything. Barry, listen to me -"

"NO! I'M DONE LISTENING TO YOU!" Barry lifts his head. His eyes are wild as he stares at Wells. "Just tell me this, _doctor_. Did you kill my mom?"

Slowly, Eobard nods, opens his mouth to speak. But Barry doesn't give him the chance. There's a blur, and Barry's dressed, red leather Flash suit and all. His mouth's drawn down; Eobard can tell he's fighting back tears.

"I trusted you! We ALL trusted you!" Barry breaks off, knuckles his eyes. His voice rises to a scream. "You killed my mom - my dad's in PRISON because of you. And I loved you! Your cum's still inside my ass! I feel TAINTED! I HATE YOU!!!"

Eobard stares at him. Barry's suit hood is pushed back, his hair rumpled, face flushed, pupils blown. He's never looked more adorable - or more unattainable.

Then he pulls his hood forward over his face - gives one last stricken look at Wells - and he's gone.

/\/

Barry runs.

He doesn't know where he is, doesn't care, only that he's a long way from Central City. His whole world has just turned upside down. The man he'd idolised, had thought of as a hero long before meeting him, long before they became lovers, has turned out to be his worst nightmare, the monster who's haunted him for fifteen years. And the worst part is, he can't forget their intimacy. There's too much to remind him: the burn in his ass, the sticky remnants of cum on his speeding legs, the guilty jolt of arousal as the events of the night replay in his head, as he remembers everything Harrison Wells did to him. He feels dirty, a traitor to his mom's memory, a traitor to his dad.

He wants to run away from Harrison Wells. He wants to run away from _himself_.

Barry sobs as he runs. If only he could forget. If only he could go back in time, to before any of this even happened. But he knows that's not possible.

Barry runs...

\/\

In his secret room at S.T.A.R. Labs, Dr Wells is scrutinising every monitor for every hidden camera he has positioned throughout the city, looking for Barry. He looks first of all into every room in Joe's apartment, fearing that Barry may have gone to him; breathes a sigh of relief when all he sees is Joe pacing, obviously worried. No need for damage limitation there - at least, not yet.

Barry's old apartment. Nothing.

The police precinct. No sign of Barry.

The forensics lab. Empty.

Eddie Thawne's apartment. Only Iris and Eddie, watching a late-night film on TV.

His own lab. Nothing...

The roll call ends; he hasn't found a trace of Barry anywhere in Central City. Frowning, he turns to the computer.

"Gideon."

The androgynous face appears. "Greetings, Dr Wells."

"Do you have any idea of Barry Allen's whereabouts?"

There's a pause: Gideon, processing information from a myriad sources. Then -

"Not at this time, Dr Wells."

He's already stretching out his hand to the control. A moment later, the image of the _Central City Citizen_ for April 25 2024 springs up in front of him.

There's no mention of the Flash on its front page.

He refuses to panic. "Gideon."

"Yes, Dr Wells?"

"Show me any future news for the Flash. Or for Barry Allen. Anything at all."

The pause is much longer this time. He feels the sweat starting to prickle his body. At last Gideon says, in its calm, dispassionate voice, "Zero results found."

Wells clenches his fists. He will absolutely _not_ panic. He's seen this phenomenon before: all it means is, that the future is in a state of flux, still capable of being nudged either way. At least he hasn't seen the news which has suddenly become his greatest fear.

The news of Barry Allen's suicide.


	11. Chapter 11

Caitlin Snow parks her car in the S.T.A.R. Labs car park, gets out, bleeps the car locked. She yawns; it's early, even for her, but there's an overnight computer run she needs to check on. Really, it's Cisco's job, but he'd been making plans to go out last night; who knows what time he'll surface.

As she walks away from the car, she thinks she hears someone behind her. "Cisco?" she calls, turning. "Cisco, is that you?"

There's nobody there. Puzzled, she drops her keys into her handbag, carries on into the lab. To her surprise, she's not the first in after all. Dr Wells is at his workstation, totally engrossed in the lines of figures on his display. Light from the screen highlights his face from below, giving him an almost demonic air. Caitlin wonders why he looks different, realises he's not wearing his glasses.

"Good morning, Dr Wells," she says, walking over to him. "I didn't expect you to be - oh my god, doctor, whatever is the matter?"

She's seen the bone-deep weariness, the utter devastation, in his face.

"Caitlin," he says, his voice a croak. He passes his hand over his face, clears his throat. "Caitlin, have you seen Barry?"

"Barry?" she says, surprised. "I thought - wasn't he with you last night?"

She remembers hearing them arranging to meet at Wells's hotel the previous evening, round about the same time Cisco was making _his_ plans, remembers thinking bitterly that she's the only one of the team without a date - which, as always, leads to thoughts of Ronnie, and what she's lost.

But this isn't about her. She puts her hand on Wells's arm.

"What's happened?"

\/\

Barry is still running. He's run almost three hours straight, just one brief stop at an all-night diner to refuel, then on into the night. Now it's almost dawn; he can see the sky beginning to turn pale, swirls of mist rising from the fields on either side. For the first time, he wonders about his destination. If he keeps this up, soon he'll be at the far coast. And then? Up onto the cliffs, just keep running? He chokes back a sob, increases his speed.

All at once Barry's aware he's not alone: another figure is pacing him, indistinct in the early-morning mist. Another speedster! His first thought is, it must be the Reverse Flash. Angrily, Barry clenches his fists, draws closer. The mists part for a moment, revealing his nemesis.

But the speedster's suit is red, not yellow, and the face which turns toward him is his own.

"Time travel _is_ possible," his other self tells him, as they run side by side through the thinning mist. "But it's very dangerous. You must go back, talk to Eobard Thawne."

For a moment, Barry wonders if he's hallucinating. "Who is Eobard Thawne?"

The mist's nearly all gone now, sucked up by the rising sun. Barry sees his other self smile grimly. "Go back to S.T.A.R. Labs," he says. "You'll find out."

And, suddenly, he's gone. Simultaneously, Barry loses speed, stutters to a halt, his boot heels striking sparks from the road. For a long moment he stands there, thinking, a lonely figure in the dawn light. Then he reluctantly turns around, begins running in the opposite direction; back towards Central City, towards S.T.A.R. Labs.

Towards Harrison Wells.

/\/

Harrison Wells is sitting in his wheelchair, leaning forward, talking earnestly to Caitlin, when Cisco walks into the lab. They break off their conversation, look at him hopefully. "Have you seen Barry?" Caitlin asks.

"Nope," Cisco says, looking between them. "Something wrong, guys?"

Wells groans, scrubs his hand over his face. "Where to begin?" he says.

"How about by being honest with them?" comes a new voice from the doorway. It's Felicity Smoak.

"What is this, Grand Central Station?" Wells asks, exasperated. All these people turning up, but not the one he most wants to see. _Needs_ to see.

"Honest about what?" asks Cisco.

"Have you seen Barry?" asks Wells at the same moment.

"About the fact he can walk," Felicity says to Cisco. Then, turning to Dr Wells, "No, what have you done with him?"

"He's disappeared," Wells says, desolately.

Caitlin's not been taking part in the conversation, too engrossed in the screens in front of her. Now she says, pointing to the security monitor, "Well, looks like he's reappeared again."

Barry is in the entrance hall.

Wells sinks his head in his hands with a deep, shuddering sigh of relief. When he looks up again, Barry's standing in front of him. He's pink with scrubbing, hair still dripping, face sombre.

Barry's spent the last half hour in the shower, washing off all trace of Harrison Wells, but he still feels dirty when he looks at this man. But there's something he has to know.

"Who is Eobard Thawne?"

Wells stares at him. Of all the questions he's been expecting - dreading - this isn't one. At last he says, "I am Eobard Thawne. Why do you ask, Barry? Who told you that name?"

Cisco and Caitlin look at each other in confusion. "Dr Wells?" Caitlin says uncertainly.

"Whoever he is, he's a murderer," Barry bursts out suddenly. "He's the Reverse Flash. And he killed my mother."

There's a long silence. Now Cisco and Caitlin look absolutely gobsmacked. Only Felicity is unfazed.

"Well, my boss is a murderer, too," she says serenely.

Barry's indignant. "The Arrow's a vigilante! He serves his city!" he says. "Not like this _scum_!"

"Hey!" Eobard protests, stung. "At least I kill with good reason, not random people from someone else's _list_!"

Everyone stares at him.

"Not helping, dude," Cisco says, under his breath.

"How did you know about the list?" asks Felicity.

"Doesn't matter," Eobard says, waving his hand dismissively. "What's important -"

"So what was your _good reason_ for killing my mother?" interrupts Barry, his voice full of pain.

His eyes locked with Eobard's, he waits for his answer.


	12. Chapter 12

And here it is: the question he's been dreading for so long. How to make Barry understand? Looking at the young, vulnerable, anguished face in front of him now, it's hard to understand himself. But it has to be done. Steeling himself, remembering that future Flash, Eobard says:

"I hated you."

Seeing the sudden jolt of shock in the tear-filled eyes, he presses on quickly, "Oh, not _you_. For _you_ , I feel nothing but -" he hesitates, says lowly, "love." Seeing Barry's grimace, he continues, "But you don't wanna hear that, do you?" He shrugs; no matter; he'll change Barry's feelings later. If he can. "No, it's future you I hated."

"But _why_?"

"Doesn't matter now. What matters is, I thought I'd found a way to defeat you, once and for all. I'd discovered your name. _Barry Allen_." Reminiscently, he savours that name, that discovery. For a moment, it even brings back the hatred. His face hardens.

"So I travelled back in time to kill you. Wipe you off the planet, as if you'd never existed."

He laughs mirthlessly. "But you - future you - followed me back. We fought. And you - future you - got your younger self outta there. Saved him from me. I was soooooo _mad_...

"And then I thought: what if your younger self were to suffer a tragedy? Something so horrible, so traumatic, he'd never recover, never become the Flash.

And I stabbed your mother in the heart."

There's a long, horrified silence. Looking round at them all - Barry, Caitlin, Cisco, Felicity - Eobard reads nothing but condemnation in their faces. He sighs.

"But then I discovered that in travelling back in time, I'd lost my ability to harness the Speed Force. I couldn't go home; I was _stuck_ in this godforsaken, backward, benighted time. My only way back - was the Flash. But the Flash was gone. So, I had to create him. Create _you_."

Barry stares at him in disbelief. "But why help me? Why train me? Why help me save so many people?"

"Because I needed you to get _fast_. To help me return home. Fast enough to create a stable wormhole."

"But why would I do that? Even with all your lies, I wouldn't have done that. And I sure won't now." Barry stretches his hands out towards Eobard, looks like he'd love to seize him by the throat and strangle him right there.

"Can't you find it in your heart to forgive me?" Eobard pleads. "You always try to give the criminals you catch a second chance if you can. Can't you do the same for me?"

Barry grimly shakes his head, no.

Eobard clenches and unclenches his fist in agitation. "I wouldn't have believed it of _this_ Barry Allen," he bursts out. "Oh, future you, yeah, sure, he wouldn't give anyone a second chance - cold, unforgiving, self-righteous bastard. But _you_ , Barry Allen. I thought better of you."

Barry drops his hands, steps back, breathes deeply. "Okay, so I'm not saying I'll help you," he says. "But how were you planning to create this wormhole?"

"Rebuild the particle accelerator."

"Rebuild the -? Oh yeah, sure. Because that went so well last time," Barry says sarcastically.

Eobard sighs. Doesn't he get it? "It went precisely as intended. It created you."

He looks at Barry's stricken face with pity. "But don't you see," he says urgently, " _you_ could use the wormhole, too. You could go back to that night." He leans forward. "You could undo the evil I did. You could save your mother."

/\/

Barry stands on the roof top where the Flash used to meet Iris. He needs to be alone, needs to think. He feels like a computer in meltdown, cpu overloaded, circuits fried. How can he possibly decide? Can he even trust Harrison Wells - Eobard Thawne - whatever his name is - to be telling the truth this time? What if the wormhole returns him to his own time but kills Barry himself in the process?

And if he's _not_ lying - if Barry can indeed go back and save his mother - who wouldn't want that? But what effect would it have on everything else? Suppose it means he becomes the future Flash that Thawne spoke of with such loathing.

_He wouldn't give anyone a second chance - cold, unforgiving self-righteous bastard._

Barry doesn't want to become that man.

But his mom, his mom. She deserves to live...

\/\

Harrison Wells is in his office, resisting the temptation to go spy on Barry via the camera feeds in his secret room. His door's open, and he can hear the low murmur of conversation in the main lab. Caitlin, Cisco and Felicity, discussing what they've just heard, discussing _him_.

At last he can stand it no longer, wheels into the lab. They look at him, fall silent.

"Nothing we can decide for now," he says. "Not until Barry's back. It all depends on him."

When Barry does come back, he looks exhausted, defeated. He goes straight up to Wells. "I'll train to get fast," he says, "I'd do that anyway. And if the rest of you -" he looks primarily at Cisco, "- if the rest of you wanna help _him_ -" with a scorching glance at Wells, "- fix the particle accelerator, that's your choice. But I'm not gonna decide whether to go ahead and try to create the wormhole until that's done."

Wells nods, looks at Cisco, raises his eyebrows. "Well, Cisco?"

Cisco scowls. "If Barry's okay with it," he says slowly, "yeah. Yeah, I'll help you."

Barry thinks Cisco sounds unsure, finds himself hoping they won't be able to rebuild the accelerator anyway, saving him from an impossible choice.

Wells too has caught Cisco's hesitation. He decides to up his game.

"There's someone else I'd like to add to the team," he says. "Hartley Rathaway."

Cisco groans. Caitlin says, "What if he -" and stops. But it's Barry that Wells is looking at as he enquires softly, "Or would you have a problem with that?"

Barry's chin comes up. "Sure, get him on board if you wanna. It's nothing to me."

But Wells has seen the quickly-suppressed flash of jealousy, and has hope, all the same.


	13. Chapter 13

"Looks like they did a good job replacing your glass, Harrison," Hartley says.

Seeing Hartley there, over by the floor-to-ceiling window, suddenly brings a memory into sharp focus in Harrison's head. Two - or was it three? - Christmases ago, the night of the S.T.A.R. Labs office party. Hartley had come home with him afterwards, both of them more than a little drunk, and he'd had him right there, where Hartley is standing now - pressing him naked up against the glass, fucking him from behind, until he came in Hartley's ass and Hartley's spunk shot all over the window to slide slowly, viscous, down the glass.

Harrison takes a deep breath, sees from the look in Hartley's eyes that he's remembering, too.

"Yeah, you really did a number on me that night, didn't you?" says Hartley. "Humiliated me in front of anyone who happened to be passing by outside your window."

"Nobody was passing by," Harrison says. He eyes Hartley thoughtfully. "Is that why you chose to get my attention by shattering all the glass in my house?"

Hartley smirks. "Not primarily," he says, "but there's no denying it was a consideration." He runs a finger thoughtfully down the window. "Shame you can't get up to tricks like _that_ anymore," he adds spitefully, eyeing Harrison's wheelchair.

Harrison gives a small, private smile. He hasn't told Hartley everything; hasn't told him very much at all, yet, not sure how far to trust him. But the opportunity's irresistible.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," he says, and gets up out of the chair.

Hartley's eyes widen. " _Altissima quaeque flumina minima sono labiuntur_ ," he says. - _Still waters run deep_ -

Harrison chuckles. " _Carpe diem_ ," he says, " _quam minimum credula postero_ " - _Enjoy the day, trusting little in tomorrow_ \- 

He moves closer to Hartley, puts his hand on his shoulder. 

Hartley groans. " _Agnosco veteris vestigia flammae_ ," he whispers. - _I feel once more the scars of the old flame_ \- 

Harrison raises his eyebrows. His voice smooth, seductive, he replies, " _Amoris vulnis idem sanat qui facit_." - _The wounds of love are cured by love itself_ \- 

Hartley turns away from him. "No," he says flatly. "No way will I ever let you humiliate me like that again." 

He feels Harrison's breath on the back of his neck, closes his eyes as he hears Harrison say, "Oh, I think you _would_ let me do it again, Hartley. In a heartbeat." 

\/\

"Where's Dr Wells?" asks Caitlin.

"We're still calling him Dr Wells, are we?" replies Cisco.

"Yep," puts in Felicity, "he said it was safer."

"Particularly while Hartley Rathaway's around," adds Barry. "I don't think Wells has decided how, uh, _economical with the truth_ he's gonna be with him."

"So where _is_ Hartley Rathaway?" asks Cisco. "I let him out of his cell a coupla hours ago, and he was acting kinda weird, then."

"Oh -" Barry says, "I think he's helping Dr Wells shift his stuff from the hotel. Wells got a call saying his house is all fixed now, and ready for him to move back in."

"Why aren't you helping him, Barry?" asks Felicity.

Barry grimaces. "I don't feel I can bear to be around him right now," he says. "He kinda looked at me when he asked for help in moving, but - well, I pretended I didn't see him." Reluctantly, he adds, "And then Hartley Rathaway jumped right in, said he'd help."

"Wow, I hope he's not putting the moves on him again," says Cisco. "Those two were real tight at one time." Seeing Barry's face, he hastily changes the subject. "Anyway, I was gonna tell you guys what happened when I let Hartley outta his cell." He shoots a quick glance at Caitlin. "You know he's been saying he could tell us what happened to Ronnie?"

"Ronnie's gone," Caitlin says flatly. "That guy I saw, the one who told me to stay away, who burst into flames? I don't believe that was Ronnie at all."

"No, you're right," Cisco says excitedly. "At least, not just Ronnie. It was Professor Stein, as well. It was all part of this F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. thing. Hartley Rathaway showed me it all happening, on the vid of that night. The night the particle accelerator blew."

/\/

Hartley gives Harrison a dark look. "I'm not playing your little games anymore, Harrison. I don't want you fucking me, pretending I'm _him_."

Harrison draws back. "I always knew you were smart, Hartley," he murmurs.

Hartley's voice rises. "And don't think I don't know why you brought me back on the team. You want to make your little pet jealous, don't you?"

Harrison smirks. "I don't have to have just _one_ reason for the things I do, do I?" he says. "You are genuinely the best man to bring the particle accelerator back on line."

"And that's another thing," Hartley says, crossing his arms across his chest. "Why do you even _want_ the particle accelerator running again?"

"To restore - my reputation," Harrison says, jerkily. "To undo - some - of the wrong I did." 

Hartley looks unconvinced. "And that press conference? Where you swore blind to that, that _bimbo_ that no way would you ever rebuild the particle accelerator."

Harrison waves his hand. "What can I say? Obviously the public aren't gonna buy it until it becomes a _fait accompli_ , until they see that nothing goes wrong this time." He looks sternly at Hartley. "That's why our work must be secret. If you can't agree to that -"

"Oh, I agree," Hartley says moodily. "I don't wanna wind up back in a cell in your damn basement." He reaches out, grips Wells's arm. "But it had better be safe this time. And you'd better listen to me if I have any concerns."

Harrison removes Hartley's hand from his arm, holds it just a little too long before letting go. "You have my word."

"For what _that's_ worth," Hartley mutters under his breath.

"There's one other thing," Harrison says. "If we're to keep things secret around S.T.A.R. Labs, we need to do something about that nosey cop, Joe West."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, he's getting too close, sniffing around for something to pin on me. I need you to help deflect him."

Hartley sniggers. "Can't help you there, Harrison. He's _so_ not my type."

Harrison Wells smiles grimly. "There isn't any point trying for Joe directly anyway; he's got Dr Wells in his sights and he isn't about to give up if he can help it. No, you'd do better to go over his head. Try getting in touch with his boss. Try getting in touch with Captain Singh."


	14. Chapter 14

Barry sees Dr Wells come back into the lab, experiences a jumble of contradictory emotions. He's simultaneously glad Wells is alone, no sign of Hartley Rathaway / wonders why he's glad / is horrified at the idea that this man murdered his mother / feels jolts of desire at the mere sight of him. Barry raises his hands to his head, feeling like it's about to explode.

"What's new, team?" Wells asks. Is it Barry's imagination, or is he avoiding Barry's eyes?

"We think we've found Ronnie," Caitlin says. "We've found out about F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M." 

"Yeah!" Cisco exclaims. "This is HUGE!"

The words strike a chord with Barry, but for a moment he can't quite place them. Then he does.

His eyes involuntarily seek out Harrison Wells, who from the look on his face is remembering too. Remembering Barry saying those words in his hotel room, when he discovered that he, Harrison, could walk. Remembering what happened next. Remembering that night...

Barry's eyes drop from Harrison's. He feels his face growing warm.

Fortunately Cisco carries on talking, oblivious to the by-play. "Turns out, when the accelerator exploded, Ronnie Raymond and Professor Martin Stein - _merged_."

"Merged?" Wells echoes. He looks around the team, realises for the first time someone's missing. "Where is Ms Smoak?"

"She had a call from Oliver Queen," Caitlin answers. "He wanted her back in Starling City asap."

"Ah," says Wells, slightly worried, thinking _she'd better not spill any of my secrets to the Arrow_.

"Anyway," Caitlin goes on, "what're we going to do about Ronnie and Professor Stein? Will it be possible to - _de_ merge them?"

"We'll give it our best shot," says Wells, pleased to have a problem he may be able to solve. "The first thing is, to bring them in."

/\/

In the event, bringing them in isn't too difficult, with help from Caitlin and Professor Stein's wife, Clarissa. But once Caitlin begins running tests on Ronnie/Professor Stein, it becomes increasingly apparent that they have a problem. Ronnie's body is trying to reject Professor Stein: undergoing an exothermic reaction, the F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. matrix becoming unstable. They'll have no more than two hours before going nuclear - unless they're stopped.

In his secret room, Wells retrieves his gun from its case, then hesitates. He remembers Caitlin's anguished plea for Ronnie's life, the look in Barry Allen's eyes. _Barry_. Barry: who, in spite of everything, still trusts him to do the right thing. Slowly he lowers the gun, rubs the back of his neck, considers his options.

"Gideon. Can the tachyon prototype be converted into a quantum splicer?" he asks the computer.

There's a pause, then Gideon responds. "Theoretically. But I must warn you, Dr Wells, converting the tachyon prototype will delay your timetable."

For some reason his timetable doesn't seem as important as it once did. And anyway: "There's not gonna be a timetable if Central City goes up in a mushroom cloud," he snaps, heading for the door.

Quickly, Wells returns to the lab, cradling the precious tachyon device, ropes in Cisco to help him engineer the quantum splicer, conscious all the time that the clock's ticking.

They finish it with minutes to spare.

\/\

Dr Wells sits in his office waiting for news. Barry and Caitlin have set off with the quantum splicer for the badlands, for Ronnie/Martin's last known location. It all rests on Barry's speed, now, and he can't bear to watch.

He looks up as Cisco comes in.

"Anything?"

"There was an explosion - but I couldn't read any radiation above background from Barry's suit. So they're going back in."

"Okay," Wells says. "Keep me informed." He knows he ought to be in the lab with Cisco, keeping watch, but his nerves can't take any more right now.

But Cisco's hesitating in the doorway, fidgeting. Wells raises his eyebrows. "Something else?"

"Uh, I've not had a chance to tell you before -" Cisco begins awkwardly, "- what with all the weird stuff going down with Ronnie and all -"

"Tell me what, Cisco?"

"Um, Joe West? He had me go with him to the house where Barry used to live. Where you - where his mom died." The accusing, unspoken _where you murdered her_ hangs in the air between them.

"And?"

"Well, we found some evidence the cops overlooked fifteen years ago. Blood spatters on the wall. They'd been papered over since, but -"

"Yeah, I get the picture."

"Well, I took samples. Looks like the blood's from two different people. And Joe - well, he wants me to test them both against your DNA." Cisco looks pleadingly at Dr Wells. "What should I do?"

What _should_ he do? Wells's first thought is that he's set Hartley onto Captain Singh none too soon. Then his eye falls on the double helix rotating on the display in front of him, and he begins to laugh.

"It's okay, Cisco," he says. "Test them all you want. I guarantee neither of your samples will give you a match with Harrison Wells."

After Cisco's gone, Wells carries on musing about DNA. Can possessing DNA not originally his own, account for having changed more than he'd bargained for? Once, he'd never even have _considered_ sacrificing the tachyon prototype to save Ronnie. And as he told the team, referring to Ronnie/Martin's predicament, the stronger part of each organism wound up in control. Is he being influenced by the real Harrison Wells's, for want of a better term, moral compass? A moral compass which seems to be getting stronger under Barry Allen's influence...

Just as he's thinking this, Barry himself staggers into his office.

"It's okay," he says, "we got them back. And they've safely separated! It's all okay."

Harrison feasts his eyes on him: hair full of ash, Flash suit the worse for wear, battered and stained; but the important thing is, Barry's alive. He's so relieved, he's up out of his chair and halfway across the room before he realises it, longing to take Barry in his arms.

Barry backs away. "No, don't touch me," he says. Seeing the hurt in Harrison's eyes, he goes on, "I'm sorry, but if you touch me, I can't help thinking the hands on me are the hands which killed my mother."

"Barry," Harrison says, "they aren't. I'm a different person since that night. Literally, a different person." He stretches out his hands. "I swear to you, these hands are not the hands which killed your mother."

"But how -?" Barry begins, then stops. The utter conviction in Harrison's voice, the sincerity in his eyes, seem convincing. But Barry has an inkling there's something else behind it, something darker.

"I'll explain everything later," Harrison says urgently. "Just let me be with you now."

Barry has a vague feeling he ought to stop him, ought to demand the full explanation right now, but Harrison's arms are around him, his eyes pleading, and Barry's swept away on a tide of sensation.

Their lips meet in a long kiss.


	15. Chapter 15

Their kiss grows more heated. Wells has his hand inside Barry's suit, reaching for his cock, when an embarrassed cough from the doorway makes him draw back. It's Cisco.

"Oh man, I'm sorry," Cisco says. "I came in here to get away from Caitlin and Ronnie kissing, and instead -"

"- you see us," says Wells, smiling tightly. He reaches up, tousles Barry's ash-streaked hair. "Better go clean up, Barry." He adds in an undertone, "Come to my house tonight? Please?"

Barry swallows, hard. His voice cracking slightly, he says, "Yeah, sure. I'll do that."

Cisco has had a good look at the Flash suit for the first time since Barry got back from the badlands. "My suit!" he mourns. "What've you done to it?"

"Hey," Barry says, " _our_ suit, remember? Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks. It'll clean up." He grins at Cisco and leaves the office.

Cisco starts to follow, but Wells calls him back. "Just a moment, Cisco."

"Yeah?"

"Have you analysed those DNA samples for Joe West?"

Cisco nods. "Yeah. And that was weird. You were right: neither of them matched you. One was unknown, the other - well, it matched Barry. But not Barry when he was a kid. The proteins in the blood showed it came from Barry - as an _adult_."

"Ah," Wells says. Does this mean Barry does go back in time to save his mother - and fails? Or is the blood actually from the future Flash, alike enough to this one to have identical DNA? This requires further thought. And meanwhile -

"If Joe West asks you to do anything else for him," Wells says softly, "anything at all, you report to me _first_. Do I make myself clear?"

His expression serious, Cisco agrees. "Yes, Dr Wells. Absolutely."

\/\

"I mean it, Caitlin," Ronnie says, looking earnestly at her across the table.

They're in Jitters, drinking coffee and catching up. Or rather, Caitlin's been filling Ronnie in on what's been happening over the past year. Ronnie doesn't really want to dwell on his life since the particle accelerator explosion, trapped in his own body with Professor Martin Stein firmly in control. Now, he just wants to leave it all behind.

"I mean it," he repeats. "We could just - go. Leave Central City. Go somewhere together, start again. S.T.A.R. Labs has already taken a year of our lives."

Caitlin shakes her head. "But, Ronnie," she says, "it wasn't any hardship for me to stay at S.T.A.R. Labs. I felt I owed it to Dr Wells. And besides, since Barry's become the Flash, I've found a new way of helping people. Our team has done good work, keeping the city safe."

"But what can I do?" Ronnie asks, stirring his coffee moodily. "I - _we_ \- were one of the guys you people keep the city safe _from_."

Caitlin leans forward. "Ronnie," she says, "there is something you can do. Don't tell anybody, but Dr Wells needs to rebuild the particle accelerator. Your expertise -"

She breaks off in shock. Tiny red dots are suddenly appearing all over Jitters, sweeping about, then concentrating around their table. Laser sights!

"Get out, Ronnie!" she screams.

Across the city at that moment, Professor Stein is expounding his theories on time travel to Barry Allen. As Ronnie flees from Jitters, pursued by soldiers, he experiences the emotions roiling through his F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. counterpart and staggers back, his hand going to his chest.

"Professor?" asks Barry, concerned. "Professor, what's wrong?"

"Ronnie!" Martin Stein gasps. "He's in trouble - Jitters - you have to help him!"

Barry doesn't need telling twice. Seconds later, he's in his Flash suit and outside Jitters, dealing with the posse of soldiers surrounding Ronnie. Then General Eiling takes a hand.

"We came here to get F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.," he says, lobbing a grenade high in the air. "But getting the Flash as well is just gravy."

The grenade explodes, showering hundreds of needles down on Barry. Unable to escape in time, he collapses to the ground: pierced, bleeding, and screaming with pain.

"Micro fragments attracted to kinetic energy," the general says with satisfaction. "Made especially for you."

His satisfaction's short-lived. The S.T.A.R. Labs van hurtles up, Caitlin at the wheel. Ronnie and Barry are bundled inside and the van takes off back to base, laying down black streaks of rubber from its tyres.

/\/

When Barry recovers consciousness he's lying, partly naked, on the examination table in the S.T.A.R. Labs infirmary. Harrison Wells is bending over him, intent on his work of removing the painful grenade fragments from Barry's body. As Barry watches, he sees Harrison's hand vibrate, helping him to ease out each spike without causing Barry further damage.

Barry feels as if he's floating, cushioned from reality, the pain only dimly felt, as at one remove.

"I don't understand," he says dreamily. "I thought you said you'd lost your speed coming back in time. But you're the man in the yellow suit, yes? And now you're using - what did you call it? - Speed Force? - to get these needles outta me."

Harrison gives a quick glance at Barry's face, returns his attention to the job in hand. "Ah, you're awake. Good. You gave me quite a fright there, Barry." Another half dozen bloodied needles clatter into the stainless steel dish at his side. "As for my speed, I've been able to recharge my batteries - somewhat - of late. But it's erratic; comes and goes." He tugs on a particularly recalcitrant spike; Barry winces.

"The problem is," Harrison says, frowning, "your flesh is healing too fast, while these are still embedded, making it more - difficult - to get them out. Ah!" Triumphantly, he removes the offending needle, drops it in the dish.

"Where is everybody?" Barry asks, looking around. "Are they okay? And why are you outta your wheelchair?"

"Everyone's fine," Harrison soothes him. "And S.T.A.R. Labs is in lockdown, so nobody can get in to harm any of you."

"Ronnie?"

"He's here. He's helping Cisco with a problem on the particle accelerator. And before you ask, Professor Stein and his wife are safe, too."

"General Eiling's not gonna give up, you know," Barry says. "He wants F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M. real bad."

"I'll take care of General Eiling," Harrison says grimly. "Later. Right now, I'm taking care of you." His expression softens as he looks at Barry. "We're nearly done. Just lift your right leg up a little - oh."

"What? What is it?" asks Barry, alarmed.

"This one," murmurs Harrison, intent, "- could - be - tricky. It's gone right through your scrotum. Hold still."

Barry grits his teeth, waits for the pain. But Harrison's so gentle, so careful, so _fast_ , the ugly fragment of metal's out before he knows it.

Harrison blows out a sigh of relief. "And that was the last one," he says. "Now, you need to rest and heal."

Barry looks up at him. "And what are you gonna do?"

Harrison smiles, covers Barry's hand with his own.

"I'm gonna stay right here with you."


	16. Chapter 16

Barry wakes from a deep, healing sleep to see Harrison Wells dozing in the chair beside the examination table. From the look of him - hair tousled, chin peppered with dark stubble, lines of exhaustion etched into his face - he's been there all night. Barry feels the now-familiar mixture of emotions as he watches him. Those hands, clasped in his lap, last night so competent and caring as they removed the grenade fragments from Barry's body - are they really the hands which killed Barry's mother? Harrison has sworn they aren't, and yet he's also admitted to her murder. What is the truth behind these conflicting statements?

As if feeling Barry's eyes on him, Harrison stirs, groans thickly, wakes.

"Urghh," he mutters, scrubbing his hand across his face. "Dammit, I didn't mean to go to sleep." He gives Barry a quick once-over and his eyes warm with affection. "You're looking better, anyway. How do you feel?"

"A _lot_ better," Barry says. "Thank you."

"No problem," Harrison says, getting up from his chair. "You know I'm always here for you. But now I must just go get cleaned up."

"Is it safe, you walking around llike that? No wheelchair, no glasses?" Barry asks.

"We're still in lockdown, remember?" Harrison says. "Nobody can get into S.T.A.R. Labs from outside to see me."

"Oh," Barry says. "Does that mean I can't leave yet? I really need to contact Joe. He'll be worried about me."

A shadow crosses Harrison's face. "You'll be able to go soon enough. I just need to check you over, once I've visited the bathroom."

When he gets back, his face is shaved, he's changed his clothes, and his breath smells faintly of mint. Barry feels a faint pang of regret; he'd rather liked the rumpled, early-morning look. Then Harrison's hands are on him, touching, sliding across his skin, checking for wounds.

"You do heal remarkably fast, Barry. No marks from the grenade fragments so far."

One hand moves lower, cups Barry's balls. "As I remember -" Harrison says hoarsely, "- one of the worst ones was - _here_."

Barry gasps at the intimate touch.

"Maybe -" Harrison murmurs, his hand beginning to vibrate slightly, "- maybe we should - just check - everything's - still - in full working order." The vibrations increase; he wraps his other hand around Barry's stiffening cock. His eyes locked on Barry's, he starts vibrating that hand, too.

Under Harrison's skilled ministrations, Barry doesn't stand a chance of lasting: he's soon crying out in surrender as his cum spurts into Harrison's waiting palm. Harrison leans over and presses a quick kiss to Barry's lips before crossing to the sink in the corner to wash his hands. "Looks like everything _is_ in working order," he remarks, patting his hands dry on a towel.

"Do you have to be quite so - uh - _clinical_ about it?" asks Barry, ruffled.

Harrison laughs. "I wasn't sure you'd welcome any other kinda approach from me right now," he says, tossing Barry a towel. "Clean yourself up. I just need to pop out to - take care of something. Then I can lift the lockdown."

Barry's eyes narrow in sudden suspicion. "You're going after General Eiling, aren't you." It's not a question.

Harrison hesitates a moment, then nods.

"Harrison," Barry says urgently, zipping across the room and grabbing his arm. "Harrison, you hafta promise me something."

Harrison looks at him warily. "If I can."

"No more killing," Barry says. "Not even a creep like Eiling. I mean it, Harrison - Eobard. You say you've changed: well, prove it." His stare hardens. "And if you murder anyone else? We're through."

/\/

By the time Wells gets back to S.T.A.R. Labs the sun's risen, making the overnight frost glitter on the sidewalk. He's feeling rather pleased with himself. The lockdown can be lifted now, and he's kept his promise to Barry - General Eiling's not dead. He is, however, in safe hands. Gorilla Grodd's hands. Wells smirks, thinking how unpleasant life's going to be for the general.

The smirk fades from his face as he enters the labs, finds Barry missing from the infirmary.

"Where's Barry?" he asks Cisco, who by the look of him has just pulled an all-nighter on the particle accelerator.

"Uh - he said he had to go," Cisco says. "I think he left a note for you, Dr Wells. Yeah, it's over there, look."

The note's propped up against the screen at Wells's workstation. Wells takes a quick glance at all the other screens. Yes, the lockdown's still in place. "Now how did you do that, Mr Allen?" he murmurs, ripping open the envelope.

_Harrison_  
_Sorry, but I can't wait for you any longer, I've a ton of work to catch up on at my forensics lab. See you at your place tonight?_  
_Barry_

Frowning, Harrison reverses his security procedures, allowing free access to and from the lab. Back in his wheelchair, he heads for his secret room. No harm in checking that Barry's where he says he is. He trusts Barry, of course he does, but he's seen the doubt in Barry's eyes when he looks at him. A doubt that Joe West may try to take advantage of... if he can.

\/\

That evening Barry stands outside Wells's house, debating with himself whether to sound the buzzer, or whether to just go away again. His half-promise to Wells against Joe's warnings, still fresh in his mind. He lifts his hand toward the door, lets it drop again. Turns away. Turns back. Turns away again.

The door opens. "Gonna stand out there all night, Barry?" Wells sounds annoyed.

Barry whips round, mouth falling open. "Were you _spying_ on me?"

"Hey, you and your cop pals were the ones who advised me to set up security cameras, remember? After all my glass got trashed?" Wells omits to mention that he's had cameras in place for some time now.

Barry blushes. "Oh, yeah. Sorry."

"Won't you come in?"

Barry follows Wells inside. They walk over to the floor-to-ceiling glass wall. "Looks like the repair crew did a good job," Barry says.

"Yeah, they did," Wells says. "Listen, Barry, how did you -"

He's interrupted by a trill from his phone. Pulling it out of his pocket, Wells looks at the caller ID, frowns, taps the phone. It rings again, insistently.

"Sorry, Barry, I'd better take this," he says.

"Sure, go ahead."

Wells is listening to his cell, still frowning. With a quick glance at Barry, he says, "No, it's not convenient right now."

Barry's sure it's Hartley Rathaway on the other end even before he hears Wells say, "Do you have something to tell me, Hartley?"

He gives Barry an apologetic look, mouths, "Won't be a moment," and takes the phone into another room to continue his conversation.

Normally, Barry wouldn't dream of eavesdropping. But, Hartley Rathaway? All bets are off. And besides, he's recently discovered a neat trick. Using his speed, he can vibrate his eardrums just sufficiently to pick up sounds at some distance. And right now, what he wants to pick up is Harrison Wells's conversation with Hartley Rathaway.

"- yes, he's here," Wells is saying. "And you'll have to get used to that, Hartley. I'm thinking of asking him to move in with me."

Silence. Barry can only imagine what Hartley's saying.

Then: "So, were you able to contact Captain Singh?"

More silence.

A chuckle. "Yeah, I thought he'd be your type."

A longer silence.

"He's planning to do _what_? Couldn't you - oh. Oh, I see. Yeah, keep me posted, Hartley. And thanks."

Wells comes back to Barry, tucking his phone away in his pocket. He's scowling.

"That promise you made me give you? I am so tempted to break that right now. If I hadn't sworn to you there'd be no more killings, then -"

Barry stares at him. "What? Wh-what do you mean?"

Wells looks at him bleakly, wondering how wise it is to finish that sentence, decides what the hell.

"- Joe West would be a dead man walking."


	17. Chapter 17

Barry stares at Harrison in horror. "You're not really gonna kill _Joe_ are you?" he asks.

Harrison's breathing heavily, trying to get his temper under control. He mutters something Barry doesn't quite catch.

"W-what?" stammers Barry.

Harrison looks at him, smiles grimly. "Oh, nothing. Just regretting a lost opportunity, is all."

"What's Joe done?"

Harrison doesn't answer this. Instead, he asks a question of his own. "Have you seen Joe today?" And at Barry's nod, "Talked to him?"

Barry squirms. "Yeah. Well, he talked to me." He runs his fingers through his hair, grimaces. "He warned me about you, actually."

"Oh?"

"Huh, that's nothing new," Barry says, with a short laugh. "He's always doing that. He doesn't like -"

"What?"

"Doesn't like me being with you. You know. Like this. Alone, and all."

It's Harrison's turn to laugh. "That's because he wants you for himself. Or rather, for his daughter."

" _Iris_?" Barry says. "Oh no. Iris and me? We grew up together. We're like brother and sister."

He fidgets a bit under Harrison's knowing stare. "Yeah, well, okay, for a while there I did have a bit of a thing for her. But that was -"

"- before you had sex with me?" interrupts Harrison.

Barry blushes and stammers incoherently. Harrison thinks, not for the first time, how adorable Barry is when he's embarrassed.

"Anyway," Barry says, recovering, "Iris is with Eddie now. How can Joe think she'd want to hook up with me?"

"Joe West thinks he knows best for his daughter," Harrison says with a sneer, "and, it seems, he thinks he knows best for you, too."

"I keep telling him," Barry says earnestly, "I'm an adult. I make my own choices."

"And you choose -?" asks Harrison, half dreading the answer.

/\/

Cisco's exhausted. After spending most of the previous night working on the particle accelerator alongside Ronnie, he's just put in a full day with Dr Wells, ironing out some of the problems they'd found. The one consolation: Hartley Rathaway's absent, off on some mysterious errand of his own.

Now, Cisco's on his way home, looking forward to a long soak in a hot tub and a good night's sleep. So he's not thrilled when his cell phone plays the theme from Jaws; it's the ring tone he's assigned to Joe West.

"Whazzup, Joe?" he asks, fumbling out his phone. "Can't it wait till morning?"

"Where are you right now, Cisco?" asks Joe.

"On my way h-ome," Cisco says, the last word interrupted by a yawn.

"Could you drop by my place on the way? I wouldn't bother you, Cisco, but it's important."

"Oh, okay, I guess," Cisco says, closing down his phone and reluctantly setting off for Joe's house.

He arrives to find Joe in a conspiratorial mood.

"This is strictly between you and me, okay?" Joe says. "I don't want Dr Wells finding out about it. Or Caitlin. Or even Barry, since Wells seems to have hypnotised him or something."

"Hypnotised?" asks Cisco.

"Yeah, Barry won't hear a word against the man. But I'm gonna get proof he had something to do with Nora Allen's murder."

"The DNA -" begins Cisco.

"Forget the DNA," Joe says. "I'm gonna investigate that car crash fifteen years ago in Starling City - the one where Tess Morgan died."

"Fifteen years, Joe?" protests Cisco. "What you gonna find after fifteen years?"

"That's why I need you and your fancy high-tech gizmos," Joe says. He lowers his voice, though there's just the two of them there. "Captain Singh won't sign off on me doing this, so I'm taking a coupla days private time for the job. I aim to travel to Starling City tomorrow morning." He fixes Cisco with a penetrating stare. "And I want you to come with me."

\/\

"I'm here, aren't I?" Barry says, smiling at Harrison. When he's with this man, in the moment, nothing else seems to matter.

Encouraged, Harrison smiles back. "Did you bring any of Cisco's energy patches?" he asks. He has some himself if needs be, stashed away in his kitchen, but he's not going to admit that unless he has to.

Barry looks self-conscious, pulls a strip of the patches out of his pocket.

"Good to see you came prepared," purrs Harrison.

"And you?" Barry asks. "Are you prepared?"

For a moment, Harrison isn't sure what he means. Then he crosses into the bedroom, opens the drawer in his bedside table. "Like this?" he asks, coming back with a tube of lube. "That we used the other night?"

Barry takes it from him.

"I've not used any since then," Harrison says, "in case you were wondering."

"What? Me? Uh. _No_."

Vehement as Barry's denial is, Harrison doesn't find it very convincing. He smirks, leans back, locks his hands behind his head. "Go on then, Barry," he says. "Ask."

His eyes fixed on the tube in his hand, Barry blurts out, "Are you still seeing Hartley Rathaway?"

Harrison grins. "Seeing? Yes. Fucking? No." At Barry's expression, he quickly sobers. "Oh come on, Barry, I've not had sex with anyone else since you. My own right hand, maybe. But even then I was fantasising about you."

Barry looks up at this. "And you've never fucked Hartley Rathaway, fantasising about me?"

This is so perceptive of Barry that Harrison winces. "I'll admit - I considered it - at one time," he says jerkily. "But it didn't happen. And it never will."

Barry wonders if he can believe him. "What did -" he begins, then stops. Harrison's phone is ringing again. _This better not be Hartley Rathaway again_ , Barry thinks. Then he hears Harrison exclaim:

"Cisco! What's wrong?"

Frowning, Harrison listens to what Cisco has to say. Then he takes a deep breath. "Okay, Cisco. Stall him for now. Say you've an important task to finish at S.T.A.R. Labs first, and you can't leave before midday. I'll talk to you in the morning. To all of you. Yes. Right. Thanks, Cisco. See you tomorrow."

"What was that?" Barry asks, worried by the look on Harrison's face.

"Nothing that need concern us tonight," says Harrison. With a faint feeling of deja vu, he switches his phone to flight mode. Things are catching up with him now, dominoes are tumbling, the shit's about to hit the fan. But nothing's going to stop him having a night of passion with Barry.

Even if it's the last one they ever have.


	18. Chapter 18

"What are you doing?" Barry asks, for what seems like the hundredth time.

After Cisco's call Harrison has been preoccupied, pacing the room, brushing off all Barry's attempts to talk to him. Now, he's sitting at his desk, engrossed in writing something on a sheet of notepaper. He looks up briefly, runs his fingers through his hair, scribbles a final sentence.

"Writing my confession," he says, "to the murder of Nora Allen."

Harrison adds his signature and the date, folds the paper, seals it in an envelope.

"Tomorrow this goes in a safety deposit box at my bank," he says, "with detailed instructions about when it's to be opened."

Barry stares at him. "But - I thought - the wormhole?"

Harrison gets up, pats Barry's shoulder. "If the wormhole works as we hope and you save your mother, this won't be necessary. It's just - well, if things don't work out as planned - at least your father will be cleared. He'll be outta Iron Heights, just like you always wanted."

"And if the wormhole _does_ work," Barry says slowly, puzzling it out, "and I save my mom - I won't be _me_ any more, will I? I won't meet Caitlin, or Cisco. I won't meet - _you_."

Harrison winces. "Honestly, Barry? I'm not sure. Chances are, yes, this timeline will just - collapse."

They stare at each other for a long moment. 

"But that's not happened yet," Harrison says briskly. "We've still got some time before the particle accelerator's finished."

"I don't think I'm fast enough yet, either," Barry says, frowning.

"You will be," Harrison says. "I believe in you, Barry." He smiles, shrugs. "All that's for the future," he says. "This is now." Putting his arm around Barry's shoulders, he murmurs, "So, why don't we go to bed?"

"Yeah," Barry says, thoughtfully, his eyes on the envelope on Harrison's desk. "Yeah, you go ahead. I'll be with you in a minute."

/\/

_Cisco's dreaming. It's a dark, horrible, but strangely lucid dream. He's walking into S.T.A.R. Labs, as he does every day, but this S.T.A.R. Labs is one he hardly recognises. Fragments of broken equipment litter the floor, Dr Wells's wheelchair is abandoned in the middle of the room, the air stinks of cordite. Caitlin's slumped at her desk, head buried in her hands, body shaking with sobs. Barry stands beside her, his face a rictus of horror._

_Cisco walks further into the lab, very slowly, looking all around him. First, he sees the blood spatters. His eyes track downwards. There's a bundle of bloodstained clothes lying against the wall. Joe West squats beside it, gun in hand. As Cisco watches, Joe stands up, draws back his foot and kicks the bundle viciously. Cisco walks closer still, and realises it's not a bundle of clothes after all._

_It's the body of Dr Wells._

Harrison's turning to go into his bedroom when there's a chime from the device on his wrist; the device he's taken to wearing ever since that time Barry went missing. Quickly, he presses a button and Gideon's face appears.

"You asked me to warn you of changes in the timeline," the AI says. "I have to report, the timestream is currently in a state of flux."

"Thank you, Gideon," Harrison says, "I'll deal with it."

He's caught Barry's glance at his confession, thinks he knows what may be causing the temporal distortion. He walks back to his desk, picks up the envelope.

"I'll just lock this in my safe overnight," he says, with a keen look at Barry.

Barry lets out a long breath, nods his head. Secretly, he's glad to have the decision taken from him; the temptation to whisk Harrison's confession away on the spot was so strong, he doesn't know if he could have resisted it.

The envelope safely locked away, Harrison again consults his wrist device. He's not surprised when Gideon reports that the future once more appears to be intact.

_Across the city, Cisco turns over in bed, relaxes, sinks into a deeper sleep. When he wakes, he won't remember dreaming at all._

\/\

Barry and Harrison are lying together in Harrison's king size bed. The main light's off, and a shaded bedside lamp casts their moving shadows across the ceiling. 

"Mmmmm," Harrison murmurs, running his fingers through Barry's hair, pulling him closer, kissing him deeply. " _Barry_."

Barry sighs happily. Once again Harrison's presence, his sheer physicalilty, has temporarily swept away all Barry's doubts. He feels Harrison's erection press against his belly, begins to harden in response.

Harrison's hand trails down Barry's body, tweaks a nipple, moves lower.

"Barry?"

"Mmm?"

"What do you like?"

Barry isn't sure what Harrison means. "L-like?" he stammers.

"Yeah, in bed. What do you like?"

Barry raises his hands to Harrison's face, holds him a little away so he can look into his eyes. In the dim lamplight his pupils are huge, dark, mysterious. "Everything we've ever done," he says simply. Then he blushes. "There was something - something you started and never finished."

"Yeah?" says Harrison, grinning.

"You know, that thing you did."

"What thing?" asks Harrison, starting to stroke Barry's cock.

"That thing when I figured out you were a speedster too."

"Vibrating my cock in your ass, you mean?"

"Yeah. That thing."

"Ah," says Harrison, rolling over and reaching for the lube. " _That_ thing."


	19. Chapter 19

Harrison takes great care of Barry as he prepares him: squeezing lube into his asshole, stretching him with his fingers, easing his hard, lubed cock gently into him. When he's as far inside as Barry can comfortably take, he stops. It's a big temptation to carry on, thrust after deep, satisfying thrust, burying himself balls-deep, pounding Barry into the mattress. But he won't. Not this time.

"Okay, Barry?" he asks.

"Yeah," Barry says. He's lying face down, head turned slightly to one side, hand curled loosely into a fist beside his cheek. He's not sure what's coming next, but he trusts Harrison not to hurt him.

Harrison feels him relax, eases in a bit further, stops again.

"Right," he says. "Here we go." And he begins to vibrate his cock.

It's a technique he learned more than a century in the future, with a lover whose face he can't now remember. And at this moment, he doesn't remember _any_ of his other lovers, future or past. There's just himself and Barry.

He starts with gentle vibrations, hardly moving at all. Then, encouraged by Barry's gasps and the twitching of his ass around Harrison's cock, Harrison speeds up, making sure to give Barry's prostate plenty of action. Soon, Barry's breathy little cries give way to loud shouts of "Yes! Yes! Yeeesssss!!!" which excite Harrison so much it's hard to tell which of them comes first: Barry onto the bed sheet, or Harrison inside Barry's ass.

Afterwards, they lie together, stickily entwined, breathing heavily, basking in the afterglow. Gradually, Harrison's breathing slows, his eyelids droop shut, he falls into a light doze.

Sometime later, he's woken by Barry moving against him, slowly at first, then with increasing urgency. _What it is to be young_ , Harrison thinks lazily.

"Ready to go again, Barry?" he asks, his voice husky.

"Yeah, you bet! Uh. Um. Harrison..."

"What?" he asks, coming fully awake.

"Could - could _I_ do that? To you?" Barry's tone is half pleading, half cocky. He obviously thinks he'll do a great job of it.

Harrison thinks about it. With anyone else, he'd say no straight away. But, this is Barry. Barry, who is becoming increasingly dear to him. Barry, who he's horribly afraid he's bound to lose, one way or another, whether he succeeds in getting home or not. _Home_. Once, and not too long ago, his entire focus was on returning to his own time, getting back all he's lost. Now, and he's still not entirely sure how it's happened, his focus is beginning to change.

He's been quiet for too long. Barry says, his voice flat, "Oh. Don't you - um - bottom?"

Harrison pushes away his dark thoughts, smiles at his lover. "Not usually. But for _you_ I will, Barry."

\/\

Barry crouches over Harrison. He's lubing up his cock, sinking his fingers into Harrison's ass, stretching them apart. Following Harrison's instructions. A phrase comes to mind, used by Captain Singh describing his boyfriend: _a bossy bottom_. Barry sniggers. He's not going to say _that_ aloud.

What he does say is, "How do I get my cock to vibrate?"

Harrison's patient. "Have you ever vibrated your hand at super speed?" he asks.

"Yeah," Barry says. "Unlocking a door - and - uh - stuff."

Harrison smiles to himself. "Good. Well, the technique's similar," he says. "Just don't vibrate too fast when you're inside me. Keep control."

"Why?" asks Barry. "The faster the better, right?" He gives his cock an experimental twitch.

"I don't wanna get ruptured," Harrison says sharply. "Remember what happened that time when your spunk hit the wall."

"Oh," says Barry, chastened. He can feel his erection beginning to wilt at the thought; he doesn't want to hurt Harrison.

"It'll be okay, Barry," Harrison says quickly, encouraging. "You've come once already tonight. That'll help."

"You're sure?"

"Yeah. Just keep your speed under control and we'll be fine."

"O-kay," Barry says on a long breath, looking down at Harrison, spread for him. His cock hardens again, jutting out in front of him, glistening with lube, its head purple and swollen. Barry puts his hand on it, lines himself up, plunges deep inside Harrison. The sensation of being enclosed, being _gripped_ all along his length by Harrison's ass is so amazing he almost comes then and there.

" _Harrison_ ," he says. Then, remembering the real name, "Eobard."

Harrison twitches under him. Barry feels as if something ominous is hovering over them; glances up, over his shoulder. Sees only his own shadow, huge on the ceiling. He takes a deep breath; the whole room smells of sex. Looks down at Harrison's naked body, gleaming with sweat. Starts to speak.

"What happened -" he begins.

"Barry," Harrison interrupts, his voice low, desperate, "shut up and fuck me."

The raw need in his voice goes straight to Barry's cock, which immediately begins to vibrate almost of its own accord. And Barry's half-felt foreboding is swept away, along with all thought, as he plunges into the most awesome sex of his life.


	20. Chapter 20

Harrison's in his bathroom, making use of the bidet, when the door opens and Barry looks in.

"Oh, uh, sorry?" he says thickly, leaning sleep-rumpled and naked against the door frame. "Just needed to piss."

Harrison nods towards the john.

"Go right ahead."

Barry stumbles in sleepily, and a moment later Harrison hears a jet of liquid splash onto the porcelain; on and on, an early morning waterfall.

When Barry eventually turns round Harrison's up off the bidet, wrapping a towel around his waist. Barry nuzzles up to him, putting a hand on his hip.

"How'd I do?" he asks. "Uh, not the peeing. The fuck."

Harrison shrugs. "Good vibration technique," he says. "And you kept control of yourself. Mostly."

Barry eyes him sideways. "But?" he says. "Sounds like there's gonna be a _but_ here, right?"

Harrison relents, puts his arm around Barry's shoulders. "Well, I don't have any basis for comparison, but if I hafta have a cock up my ass, I guess it better be speedster cock."

Barry unpacks this. His jaw drops. "Uh, so when you said you don't usually bottom -"

"For _not usually_ read _never_ , right," Harrison says, "until now."

"Oh man." Barry lays his head on Harrison's shoulder. He's overwhelmed. A new emotion has been added to the complex mix of feelings he has for this man, a kind of awed, protective tenderness.

"Did you come when I fucked you?" he asks awkwardly. "I was kinda carried away, I never noticed. I'm sorry."

Harrison shrugs again. "No big deal."

"I'll make it up to you," Barry says, impulsively dropping to his knees right there on the bathroom floor and tugging at the towel around Harrison's waist.

Harrison's half hard already, just looking at Barry kneeling in front of him naked and eager, and the friction of the towel against him as it slips downwards finishes the job. By the time he's naked, he's fully aroused, his cock straining forward to nudge against Barry's cheek. Barry promptly turns his head, opens his mouth, takes him in.

"Mmmmmm," he hums around Harrison's cock.

Harrison's hands come up; he buries his fingers in Barry's hair, urging him on. Over Barry's head, he catches a glimpse of himself in the mirror - pupils dark and intense, face flushed, lips drawn back. For a moment he's looking at a stranger, then it's as if this is the face he's always worn. With a shock, he realises he can't even remember what Eobard Thawne looked like.

Barry has his hands out now, cupping Harrison's balls, feeling their heft, their weight. His head bobs backwards and forwards as he sucks Harrison's shaft; his tongue circles the head of Harrison's penis, probes its slit. The musky scent of Harrison's arousal fills his nostrils. _I'm in love with him_ he thinks suddenly. _And if I create that wormhole, I'm gonna lose him_. Pushing away that thought, Barry redoubles his efforts, sucking Harrison in a blind frenzy, tongue teasing his cock head, fingers clutching his balls.

And Harrison responds: fingers clenching in Barry's hair, head thrown back, balls tightening. He pumps his hips, thrusting deeper into Barry's mouth with a warning cry, and then he's coming, a deep wrenching orgasm which seems to shoot through his entire body, giving him a thrill whose intensity he's only ever experienced before when in the throes of the Speed Force itself.

\/\

"I'm holding this briefing," says Dr Wells, "because it's time I came clean to you all about the fate of the original Harrison Wells."

He looks across his office at the three of them, Barry, Caitlin and Cisco. His 'A' team, as he calls them - although not in the hearing of his _other_ team, currently hard at work on the particle accelerator: Hartley, Ronnie, Martin Stein.

"There's no way of sugar coating this," he says, and pauses. Why is he even doing this, when he's only just won back Barry's trust? Well, he knows why, only too well. The information from Hartley, from Cisco; his knowledge of Joe West's tenacity - the truth will be out there soon enough. And besides -

"I owe it to him," he says. Takes a deep breath. "I murdered Dr Harrison Wells and stole his DNA," he says bluntly. "I murdered his fiancee, too, in the same car accident. Which I - Eobard Thawne - engineered."

By the time he's finished explaining what he did, why he did it, the same expression of horror is on all three faces. But it's only Barry he looks at; only Barry who matters.

And Barry's on his feet, fists clenched. "Nonononono!" he yells. "How could you? Are you some kinda _monster_?"

A thought strikes him, he turns pale. "You've been touching me with a dead man's hands," he sobs, "kissing me with a dead man's lips. _Fucking me with a dead man's cock_!"

"TMI, dude," Cisco mutters under his breath.

"I could kill you right now!" Barry screams. He runs across the office, but instead of seizing Wells by the throat, he flings open the door. "I'm gonna find Joe, bring him back here," he threatens. "He'll deal with you."

"No, wait," gasps Cisco. He's as pale as Barry. He brings his hands up to clutch his head. "My dream," he moans. "I remember it now. And it's so real."

Barry hesitates, his hand on the door. "What dream, Cisco? What're you talking about?"

"The other night," Cisco says slowly, "I dreamed I came in here and the place was trashed. There was blood spatter on the wall. And _you_ -" he points at Wells with a shaking finger, "- you were dead on the floor." He looks at Barry. "Joe West was squatting beside the body. He had his gun in his hand."

Wells is staring intently at Cisco. "Cisco," he whispers, "I'm so sorry."

"Why?" asks Cisco, confused.

"I'd wondered before," Wells says, "and now I'm sure. The particle accelerator explosion affected you, too."

"No," protests Cisco. "No way."

"Yes," Wells insists. "You are able to see through the very vibrations of the universe. What you saw in your dream is an alternate timeline - what happens if Joe West ever finds out the truth about me."

He turns to Barry.

"So, if you really want me dead, Barry Allen, you know what to do. Go right ahead. Go fetch Joe West."

/\/

Barry is running once more, but this time he's not running aimlessly into the night. He's on the S.T.A.R. Labs treadmill under the watchful eye of Harrison Wells.

He's nearly as angry, as upset as he was the last time he ran. But this time he's channelling the energy, the angst, the _hate_ into going faster. Because he's finally made up his mind. He's determined to be fast enough. Fast enough to create that wormhole. Then he can go back and save his mom and the real Harrison Wells, this timeline can collapse, and Eobard Thawne can just fuck right off back to the future.

And he'll never have to look at him again.


	21. Chapter 21

Barry desperately needs someone he can talk to, someone older, more experienced. Someone who can help him make sense of the turmoil he's in, the pain he's going through. But he can't go to Iron Heights to talk to his dad; it would be just so wrong to burden him with the knowledge that his son is in love with his wife's killer. Because that's part of his dilemma. In spite of everything, he does still love Harrison Wells.

Joe is out of the question, as well; Cisco's dream has made it clear what will happen if he confides in Joe. Captain Singh, maybe? But they've never really been on those sort of terms, and Captain Singh is a cop, too. Barry can't think of a single person he can trust to advise him.

Then, suddenly, he does.

It takes him less than half an hour to run to Starling City. S.T.A.R. Labs to Queen Industries: 25 minutes. A considerable improvement on the last time he ran here, when he was new to his speedster powers. When the world was still divided into good people and villains. Before he fell in love with a murderer.

Oliver comes out to meet him, Felicity Smoak in tow.

"You said it was urgent when you called," he says, "so I've cleared my diary for the rest of the day. What is it you need?"

"To talk, mainly," Barry says. "And I could use some advice." He scrubs his hand across his face; suddenly he feels very tired.

"When was the last time you had something to eat, Barry?" Felicity asks, concerned.

"Uh - I don't really remember? Yesterday, maybe?"

"Right," Oliver says decisively. "We'll go back to my house. You can tell me all about it after a bite to eat."

->

"So how is this wormhole gonna work, exactly?" asks Cisco. He's just finished another stint on the particle accelerator, working alongside the man he can't stop thinking of as Dr Wells, in spite of his recent revelations. Now they're taking a well-earned break, drinking coffee from go-cups brought in from Jitters by Caitlin.

"And how do you know it won't cause the same problems as last time?" asks Caitlin, taking a sip of her own cappuccino.

"This time, the accelerator will operate _exactly_ the way it was designed to," Wells says confidently, "except instead of two particles moving in opposite directions, colliding in the inner ring, we're only gonna insert one particle into the accelerator."

"Oh, right," Cisco says, a look of enlightenment on his face. "So _that's_ why you want Barry to go fast. So's _he_ can collide with the proton."

"Exactly, Cisco," Wells says, with an approving nod in Cisco's direction. "If Barry can go fast enough, if he can hit that particle with enough speed, he'll punch a hole right through the fabric of reality. And he will create a portal connecting _this_ time to the infinite times."

"Your wormhole," Cisco says, with awe. 

"Yeah. And so Barry can travel back to the past, to the night his mother died." He pauses. "And I can travel into the future, back to my own time."

Caitlin leans forward. "But do you really want that?" she asks shrewdly. "You don't sound very happy about it."

Cisco's worried about something else. "You said _if_ Barry runs fast enough," he says. "What happens if he doesn't?"

A shadow passes over Harrison's face. "If he doesn't achieve the desired velocity - which I calculate at mach 2 or higher - Barry will die."

Cisco whistles. "Mach 2? Man, that's _fast_. Can he do it?"

"Not yet," Harrison says. "Not quite. He was getting very close to it on the treadmill earlier. Don't worry, I won't let him try it until I'm sure he can run fast enough." He looks at Caitlin. "In answer to your question, Caitlin, the truth is - I just - don't - know." He sinks his head into his hands. His voice muffled, he says, "But Barry deserves a shot at saving his mother. So I don't have much choice."

Caitlin puts her hand on his shoulder. "Of course," she says gently. Then she looks thoughtful. "Dr Wells -?"

"Yeah?"

"What happens to the guys we've got locked up in the containment cells when the accelerator goes active?"

Wells raises his head. He looks startled. "Crap. I didn't think. They'd all be killed; we better move them outta there." He's not going to risk breaking his promise to Barry, not going to be responsible for any more deaths if he can help it.

"Move them where?" asks Caitlin. "We already know Iron Heights can't contain them."

"There is a place," Cisco says slowly. "Felicity Smoak told me about it. Some island of Oliver Queen's."

Caitlin pulls out her cellphone. "Barry said he was going over to Starling City to talk to Oliver," she says. "I'll call him now."

\/\

"Okay, thanks, I'll see what he says." Barry taps his phone to end the call.

Oliver and Felicity look at him expectantly, but he's staring down at the phone in his hand, frowning thoughtfully. Finally, Oliver says, "Problem?"

Barry starts, tucks the phone away in his pocket. "That was S.T.A.R. Labs," he says, "Needing a secure place to hold a few metahumans." He looks at Felicity. "Apparently you told Cisco about some island of Oliver's?"

Oliver also looks at Felicity. "What did you tell him about the island?" he asks her accusingly. " _When_ did you tell him?"

Felicity blushes. "I didn't think it was that big of a deal," she protests. "Cisco can keep a secret. I just happened to mention the island when we were out on a date, is all."

"Wait, what? You and Cisco?" says Barry, at the same time as Oliver says, "You went on a date with Cisco? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Questions, questions," mutters Felicity. "What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?" She faces them out, hands on hips. "Not that it's any of your business, but Cisco and I went out one night when I was over in Central City getting some data analysed. It didn't go that well, in fact - oh!"

"What?" asks Oliver. He's still looking a bit bemused at the thought of Felicity and Cisco together.

"I've just remembered," Felicity says. "It was when I went back to my hotel afterwards that I saw Dr Wells walking along the corridor and found out he'd only been pretending to be paralysed."

Barry goes red. He remembers that night, too.

"Er, well," Felicity says, "I guess I'd better leave you boys to have your chat. Thanks for lunch, Oliver."

"You're very welcome, Felicity," Oliver says courteously, "I'll just see you out."

When he comes back, Barry's pacing nervously about the room. Oliver stops him, takes his hands, looks seriously into his eyes.

"Okay, Barry," he says. "Tell me all about it."


	22. Chapter 22

Barry pulls free of Oliver, goes back to his place at the dining table. Oliver sits down opposite him and raises his eyebrows enquiringly. Barry leans forward, elbows on the table. "You already know about Eobard Thawne, then," he says flatly.

"What makes you say that?" asks Oliver.

Barry shrugs. "You were totally unsurprised when Felicity said she'd seen him walking. So I'm guessing she'd already told you about it, right?"

"Good guess," Oliver says. "I'm impressed."

"So what else did she tell you?"

Oliver steeples his fingers. "Assume she told me everything Wells told you," he says. "But that's a little while ago now. Why rush over here in such a hurry today? Has he told you something new?"

Barry laughs mirthlessly. "Oh yes," he says, and tells Oliver what happened to the real Harrison Wells.

By the time he's finished, Oliver's frowning in concentration. "I can see that would upset you," he says slowly. "But, it _was_ , what, fifteen years ago? If he says he's changed -"

"Yeah, he _says_ that."

"Well -" Oliver shakes his head. "I don't know if I'm the right person to advise you. I've done some pretty questionable things myself in the past." He sees Barry smile at this. "What?"

"Oh, just something Felicity said," Barry replies. "About _her_ boss being a murderer, too."

"Hmmm," says Oliver. "Yes, well. I won't deny people _can_ change; _I_ have. The question is, do you think Harrison Wells/Eobard Thawne has? Or is he just stringing you along?"

Barry groans. "I wish I knew." He leans back in his chair, rubs the back of his neck. "When I'm with him," he says, "I believe him, absolutely. But then, when he's not there - I'm not so sure." He's silent for a moment. Then he bursts out, "Everything he's done, _everything_ , for the last fifteen years, has had just one aim. To get back to his time. That's why he helped me, trained me, c-c-cared for me."

Angrily, Barry scrubs at his eyes.

"He said he felt trapped in this, this, _backward, benighted time_ ; it's like he's living among dead people. To him, we're all just ghosts. So - I guess - I should help him get back to his time. And try to forget all about him."

->

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Caitlin has recounted her phone conversation with Barry to Dr Wells and Cisco. "He's going to ask Oliver Queen to help us," she finishes. "Oh, and Dr Wells -"

"Yeah?"

"I told Barry it was you who thought of the metahumans being in danger when the particle accelerator goes online again."

Harrison regards her quizzically. "It's kind of you to give me the credit, Caitlin," he says, "but it's not deserved. I didn't give those guys one thought until you mentioned them."

Caitlin looks embarrassed. "I just wanted to gain you some brownie points with Barry," she says. "I'm rooting for you guys, you know."

"Aw, sweet," Cisco says sarcastically. "Just because you and Ronnie are back together, you don't have to play matchmaker for everyone else."

"Oh, shut up, Cisco," Caitlin snaps. "Just because your date with Felicity went down the toilet, you don't have to play the grouch with everyone else, either."

"How the fuck did you know I had a date with Felicity?" demands Cisco. "And who says it went down the toilet, anyway?"

"Oh, puhlease," Caitlin says scornfully. "Felicity and I do talk occasionally, you know."

What's threatening to turn into a full-on argument is suddenly interrupted by the theme from _Jaws_ blaring out of Cisco's pocket.

"Joe West," he says resignedly. "Crap on toast. I'd forgotten all about him; he'll be wanting me to saddle up and go on over to Starling City with him."

"Why does he want you to go to Starling City?" asks Caitlin.

"He's talking about investigating that car crash fifteen years ago," Cisco says. He shoots a quick look at Dr Wells. "What do I do, boss?" he asks. "How well did you, er -"

"Bury the body? Not well enough to escape a thorough investigation, I suspect." For a moment Wells is tempted to tell Cisco to stall Joe again. Then he has a better idea. Just maybe, he can get some help in Starling City itself. "Answer his call," he tells Cisco. "Agree to go with him, but check in with me before you leave." He pulls out his own cell phone, heads for his office.

"What're you gonna do?" Cisco calls after him.

"I'm gonna call Barry."

\/\

"This wormhole thing," Oliver says. "It sounds heavy. Eobard Thawne going _forward_ in time to get back to when he came from, that's one thing. But you going _back_ in time, changing the past? Could be a recipe for disaster."

"But if it means I can save my mom?" asks Barry.

"But will it? And even if you do, who knows what else will be changed as well? Fifteen years of choices, of consequences... all gone." Oliver looks solemnly at Barry. "You must decide what you really want. If it's to be rid of Eobard Thawne, you could just turn him in to the cops. Forget about the wormhole."

Barry opens his mouth to reply, but before he can say anything his cell phone buzzes, vibrating in his pants pocket against his leg. He pushes his chair back from the table, retrieves his phone, looks at the display.

"It's Dr Wells," he says, his face a picture of indecision. "Should I answer it?"

Oliver says nothing: Barry has to make his own choices.

Barry lifts the phone to his ear. "Hi," he says.

Oliver watches Barry closely as he listens to what Wells has to say, notes a complicated sequence of emotions chase themselves across his expressive face. Finally Barry says, "Right. I've got that. I'll get back to you, okay?" And taps the screen to end the call.

"What was that all about?" asks Oliver.

"Joe's coming to Starling City," Barry tells him. "He's always been suspicious of Dr Wells, and now he's got it into his head to investigate that car crash fifteen years ago. When Tess Morgan got killed."

Oliver laughs incredulously. " _That_ car crash? The one Thawne just came clean about? That's some coincidence."

Barry shakes his head. "Not really," he says. "Apparently Joe contacted Cisco about it last night. He wants Cisco to go with him, do his techie thing at the crime scene. And Cisco rang Harrison straight way, to warn him. I was right there when he got the call."

He pauses, remembering. "I didn't know what it was about at the time; he wouldn't tell me. _Nothing that need concern us tonight._ That's what he said."

"I see," says Oliver. "And he's ringing you now because -?"

Barry laughs. It's not a very happy sound.

"He wants me to help him get away with murder."


	23. Chapter 23

"Surely he doesn't want you to help him murder Joe West!" exclaims Oliver.

"He'd sure like to murder Joe," Barry says, grimacing, "but he knows I'd break up with him for sure if he ever does. No, he wants me to spirit away the body of the real Dr Wells, so Joe doesn't find it."

"And are you going to?" When Barry doesn't answer immediately, Oliver gives him a hard look. "This could be your opportunity to get rid of him," he points out.

"I don't wanna get rid of him!" Barry all but shouts. "Oliver, I'm totally fucked up over this. Eobard Thawne is a murderer, a manipulator, totally self-centred about getting 'home'." Barry's forefingers stab out angry air quotes on this last word. "He's betrayed me, lied to me, used me. I'm _hurting_ , Oliver." He grabs hold of his own hair, tugs at it as if to pull it out in handfuls.

"And in spite of all of that," he says brokenly, "I'm still in love with the guy."

Oliver whistles. "Right," he says. "Just so's we know where we stand." His solemn face is broken up by an impish grin. "I guess we better be up for a spot of body snatching, then."

"We?"

"Sure," Oliver says. "I've always wanted to be a body snatcher."

Barry doesn't believe this, but it feels good to have the Arrow's support. "Thanks, Ollie," he says.

"Hey," Oliver says, mock-sternly. "Only family and Felicity get to call me Ollie."

"Felicity?!"

"Felicity's a special case," Oliver says, rather wistfully.

Barry starts to reply, thinks better of it, shrugs. Pulling out his phone, he says, "Well then. Guess I better get my instructions from body-snatching central."

->

Eobard Thawne can't remember - or at anyrate _claims_ not to remember - exactly where he buried Dr Wells's body fifteen years ago. So Cisco has come up with a plan. When he and Joe reach Starling City and Joe becomes involved in discussion with Quentin Lance, Cisco slips out to phone Barry and explain.

"Looks like I'll need to find the grave site with my tachyon detector," he tells him. "Problem is, Joe'll be with me. So we gotta arrange a distraction. Then, while Joe's looking the other way, you zip up speedster-style and snatch the corpse. I'll text you the GPS co-ordinates of the grave site so you can find it."

There's silence for a moment as Barry relays this information to Oliver. Then he comes back on the line.

"Oliver says he and Felicity can handle the distraction. But they'll need to be in the car with you and Joe from the get-go."

"Oh," says Cisco, a bit disconcerted. "Can't just Felicity do the distracting bit? You could carry her." A sudden image of Felicity Smoak in smouldering underwear from the last time Barry did this flashes into Cisco's mind. He grins.

Another silence, then Barry says, "Nope. Oliver just nixed that."

"So what's his plan?"

"I dunno, Cisco, but it's a safe bet it involves arrows."

/\/

Joe takes Oliver and Felicity's arrival at the SCPD precinct with equanimity; Oliver explains he needs to accompany them because he's had word of a dangerous villain at large in the woods near where they intend to search. Quentin Lance, who had planned to go with Joe and Cisco, changes his mind as soon as he knows that the Arrow is going to be along. He does provide them with co-ordinates of the exact site of the fatal car crash, however, and it's not long before they're pulling up nearby.

"So who's this villain you're after, Oliver?" asks Joe, as Oliver unpacks his arrows from the car.

"Oh, it's a weird one," Oliver says. "I think this guy might have strayed over from your neck of the woods. He certainly seems to have strange powers."

"Like?"

"Oh... like, sometimes he gives off this weird glow," Oliver improvises. "And he can see in the dark, and, and, when he's committed a robbery he seems able to generate this terrific thunderstorm to cover his tracks."

Felicity puts her hand up to her mouth, stifling a snort.

"Wow," Cisco says. "A kinda radioactive half-man, half-duck cat burglar."

"Is that the best you can come up with?" Felicity giggles. "I thought you were _the man_ for naming these guys."

"Anyway," Oliver says, slinging his quiver over his shoulder, "we'll just check around in the woods while you guys do your thing. Give us a call if you need any help."

And Oliver and Felicity set off into the trees.

Cisco picks up his tachyon detector and begins methodically quartering the area beside the crash site. It's not long before it starts registering faint traces of tachyon particles. Cisco conceals this from Joe, however, and waits impatiently for Oliver's distraction tactic.

It seems like forever before he hears Felicity scream.

"What the what?" exclaims Joe, startled.

Felicity screams again.

"Sounds like she's in trouble!" gasps Cisco. "Come on!"

He heads off into the woods, leaving Joe no choice but to follow.

They find Felicity tangled up in a net, dangling from a tree about twenty feet off the ground.

"What happened?" asks Joe.

"That idiot Oliver Queen," Felicity shouts furiously. "We heard a noise in the undergrowth, and he fired one of his trick arrows - but it malfunctioned and caught me instead. Then this weird glowing thing shot out of the bushes and ran away. Oliver ran after it, just leaving me hanging here, the bastard." She peers suspiciously down at them. "Are you _laughing_?"

"No, no," Joe says hastily. "Hang on Felicity. I'll climb up there and we'll soon have you down."

"I'll get back to my search," Cisco says. "Looks like you've got everything under control here, Joe." And he's off before Joe has a chance to object.

Back at the crash site, Cisco follows the prompting of his detection device and soon locates the source of the tachyon particles. Pausing only to text his co-ordinates to Barry, he begins to dig.

He's just unearthed a hand when Barry arrives.

->

Dr Wells is worried. Cisco left with Joe West soon after midday; it's now well into the evening, and no news from anyone. All he can find out - from his illicit police radio scanner - is that there's been some kind of emergency at Iron Heights and all available cops, plus support staff (including Barry) have been recalled to duty.

He can't stop wondering what's been happening at Starling City: have Cisco and Barry betrayed him? Have they found the body? Is it even now in the CCPD morgue? Is Joe West laying a trap for him?

There's only one way to find out. He gets into his wheelchair and heads for the police precinct, where the first person he sees is Joe West himself. One look at Joe's disconsolate face and he knows his fears are groundless.

Light-headed with relief, he asks Joe if he's enjoyed his visit to Starling City.

Joe narrows his eyes. "Unproductive," he admits. Then he takes the war into the enemy camp. "You used to live in Starling City, didn't you?"

Wells nods. "I did, yes."

"Never been back there?"

"No," Wells says. "You understand - after Tess died - well, it's just too painful to go back there now."

Suddenly, Joe notices Barry running down the stairs from Captain Singh's office, and calls out to him. "Hey, wait up, Barry! I'd like a word."

Barry hesitates, comes slowly towards them.

"Are you coming home tonight, Barry?" Joe asks. "Seems like I've hardly seen you for quite a while."

Wells immediately intervenes, saying firmly, "Sorry, Joe. Barry's staying with me at the moment."

Joe looks hurt. "Is this true, Barry?"

Barry looks between them, torn. He owes Joe a lot: Joe's raised him, been there for him, loved him like a father, ever since he was ten years old.

But he just can't resist the magnetism of Harrison Wells, and it's Harrison's house he heads for when his long day's work is over at last.


	24. Chapter 24

This time Barry doesn't hesitate outside Harrison's house; he jabs the buzzer with his thumb, leans on it. Harrison opens the door and ushers him inside.

"Barry. I wasn't sure you'd come."

Barry slumps into a chair, stares unseeingly in front of him. "I nearly didn't. But I had to see you."

"Sorry you got to do my dirty work over at Starling City, clean up after me like that," Harrison says cautiously. He's not quite sure where he stands with Barry now.

Barry shrugs. "It was kinda exciting, in a way," he says wearily, "if I didn't think too much about it. Oliver and Felicity had fun, anyway." He groans. "Then we got the recall and I found out about my dad."

Harrison stares at him. "What's happened to your father?"

"You mean you don't know?"

"I heard there was an emergency at Iron Heights, nothing else," Harrison says. He adds wryly, "Looks like I'm being kept outta the loop here. Even Cisco didn't come back to S.T.A.R. Labs."

"Yeah, sorry, he was giving us a hand at Iron Heights." Barry doesn't tell Harrison that neither he nor Cisco felt like calling him after what they'd just had to do at Starling City.

"So what happened at Iron Heights?" Harrison persists. He's starting to feel annoyed.

"There's this guy, calls himself the Trickster. Actually, there's two of them: the original one, who's been banged up in Iron Heights for about twenty years, and this new one, a young guy. He distracted all Captain Singh's units with a fake bomb scare and then broke the original one outta jail."

Barry drops his head into his hands. "And they took my dad with them," he says, his voice muffled. "He's their hostage. And we can't find out where they are."

He looks up at Harrison, his eyes haunted. "I wasn't there when it happened - I was dropping the body of Dr Wells into the depths of the ocean. By the time we got back to Central City, it was too late. I feel like it's a judgement on me."

"Woah, hold up there, Barry," Harrison says urgently. "If there's any judgement here, it's on me, not you."

He goes over to Barry, pulls him up out of his chair. Barry leans against him, eyes closed, swaying slightly.

"Hey," Harrison murmurs, putting his arms around Barry and holding him close. "You're exhausted. Come to bed."

Barry shakes his head.

"Yes," Harrison insists. "There's nothing you can do in this state. You need to rest." He gives Barry a little shake. "We'll find your father, Barry, whatever it takes. I promise you that."

/\/

Harrison finishes up in the bathroom, lets himself quietly into the bedroom, expecting to find Barry asleep. But Barry isn't asleep. He's curled up in a ball in the middle of the bed, elbows either side of his head as if to shut out the world, sobbing heartbrokenly.

Harrison hesitates for a moment, then gets onto the bed to lie behind him. Pressing his hand against Barry's back, he says gently, "Barry."

"H-H-Harrison," Barry sobs. "I can't lose my dad. I _can't_."

"That's not gonna happen," Harrison says. "Trust me on this, Barry. We'll use all the resources of S.T.A.R. Labs to find him."

Barry turns his head, looks over his shoulder at Harrison. His eyelashes are wet with tears, his face a picture of misery. Harrison longs to comfort him, isn't sure if that's possible. He finds himself caring about Henry Allen's fate far more than is logical; his old familiar mantra _they've all been dead for over a century_ has lost its power to convince him.

In the end he just wraps his arms around Barry and, regardless of using up what little Speed Force he's been able to absorb lately, vibrates gently against the young man's body to console him, to soothe him, and, finally, to lull him to sleep.

\/\

They're all grouped around Cisco as he uses the S.T.A.R. Labs satellite array to systematically sweep through the streets of Central City: Barry, Dr Wells, Caitlin, even Joe West, all enmity and suspicion set aside in the search for Henry Allen. But Cisco's finding nothing. He adds in a scan of all the city's traffic cams. Still nothing.

Suddenly, Joe's cell rings. "Iris," he says, looking at the display. "Hey, baby." Then - " _Iris?_ "

The others catch the change in Joe's voice, look at him sharply. He taps his phone into speaker mode; against a confused babble of panicked background voices they hear Trickster senior saying loudly, "How many of you feel the Trimethylmercury 32 coursing through your veins, hmmm?"

"Cisco," Joe says urgently, "can you ping her phone?"

Cisco's fingers rattle his keyboard. "On it."

"Trimethylmercury 32 is a relatively fast-acting poison," says Caitlin, worried.

"Is there a cure?" Barry asks.

"Yes," Wells reassures him. "We can start synthesising the antidote right now."

Cisco finishes his rapid triangulation. "She's at city hall."

"The mayor's fund raiser!" exclaims Joe. "Rich pickings for those rascals."

Barry's in his Flash suit, ready to leave. Wells looks at him with concern. "Barry," he says, "do not underestimate the Trickster." But Barry's already out the door.

A split second later, he's at city hall, confronting the tricky pair.

"Where's Henry Allen?" he demands.

"He's where you'll be soon," Trickster senior says gleefully. "Heaven!"

The Tricksters converge on Barry; before he realises what they're doing, they've fixed something to his arm.

"Are you familiar with the movie Speed?" asks Trickster senior. "Keanu Reeves? Sandra Bullock? See, you're the bus, and that's the bomb. A kinetic bomb, actually, and if you go below 600 mph, it'll explode. Same thing if you try to remove it."

Speedster junior's finger taps at the bomb, arming it.

"Ooh, it's active!" chortles Speedster senior. "Run, run, run, run, run!"

They've given him no choice. Barry zooms out of city hall and speeds through the city streets at random: panicked, vulnerable, shouting for help.

"CISCO!!!"

Cisco's bent intently over the readout display on his screen. "He wasn't lying," he says urgently. He looks up at the others, sees his own alarm mirrored in their eyes.

"That thing's linked to a speedometer, and it _will_ blow as soon as you stop moving..."


	25. Chapter 25

As Dr Wells, Caitlin and Cisco watch the red blur of Barry's suit streak across Cisco's screen, Cisco is horribly reminded of that simulation he ran, where Barry failed to escape a missile and his avatar was smeared across the screen in a mess of red pixels. But this is no simulation; Barry's life is at stake. They hear his panicked shout over the speaker:

"I can't run forever!"

Caitlin says, "There's gotta be a way to get it off him without damaging it." She and Cisco look trustingly at Wells.

He nods. "Barry, d'you see any walls nearby?"

"Why?" Barry still sounds panicky.

"Because I need you to run into one," Wells says calmly. "Or, more accurately, _through_ one."

"Whut?!" chorus Caitlin and Cisco, staring at Dr Wells in disbelief.

Wells leans forward, speaks clearly into the microphone: it's important that Barry takes this in. "If you vibrate at the natural frequency of air, your body - your cells - will be in a state of excitement that should allow you to -" he gestures with his hand, even though he knows Barry can't see him, "- _phase_ \- right through that wall, leaving the bomb on the other side."

" _Should?_ " yells Barry.

"You can do this," Wells says firmly. "I believe in you."

"I can't!" Barry wails.

"Listen to me, Barry," commands Wells. "Breathe. Bre-a-the. Feel the air. Feel that wind on your face. Feel the ground - your feet - lifting you up, pushing you forward. And - the _lightning_."

Remembering how it feels, how it felt when he was at the height of his powers, many years in the future, revelling in the Speed Force, Wells removes his glasses, continues in a low, urgent tone, "Barry, feel the lightning. Feel its power - its electricity - thumping through your veins, crackling through you, travelling to every nerve in your body - like - a - _shock!_ You're no longer _you_ , now; you're part of something greater - part of the - _Speed Force_." He lingers lovingly on the words, lost in memories, closes his eyes.

"Now do it."

There's an indescribable noise from the speaker, then the sound of a distant explosion. The screen blanks.

They hear someone shouting, "Woah!"

"Barry?" queries Caitlin, concerned.

"Woah," Barry responds. "That felt weird." He sounds dazed, drunk even. "Woah. I'm good."

The team give a collective sigh of relief. Wells smiles to himself, still lost in memories of the Speed Force.

In front of them, the screen flickers back to life; they see that Barry's now at city hall.

Barry zips through the crowd dispensing antidote, then confronts the tricksters. "Now, where is Henry Allen?" he demands. "You're going to prison either way."

Trickster senior chuckles annoyingly. "Not much of an incentive to tell you then, is there?"

Dr Wells and Caitlin exchange glances. Wells leans in to the microphone once more. "Bring the pair of them in to S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry," he says. "We'll soon make them talk."

\/\

Barry's a little delayed returning to S.T.A.R. Labs with his captives; they try to make a break for it as they're all leaving city hall and he has to round them up again. Fortunately, he has plenty of help from the mayor's fund-raiser attendees, all smarting from the way they've been treated by the tricky pair.

The S.T.A.R. Labs team put the time to good use - Caitlin whipping up a batch of truth serum to a formula supplied by Dr Wells, Joe and Cisco beefing up security.

"You okay with this, Joe?" asks Wells, indicating the hypo Caitlin's filling with serum. "It's not strictly legal, you know."

"If it helps us get back Henry Allen? I ain't complaining," Joe returns. He eyes the security monitor showing the entrance lobby. "Looks like it's showtime."

Barry drags in a sorry pair of tricksters. Trickster junior is silent, sullen, but Trickster senior is complaining vociferously about police harassment.

"They do look a bit the worse for wear," says Caitlin. She doesn't sound very sympathetic.

"What'd you do to them, Barry?" asks Joe, a big smile on his face.

"Nothing," Barry says, "but some of the guys at city hall didn't take kindly to being poisoned and forced to hand over their savings. They kinda put the boot in when they helped me round up these two."

"Well, all you gotta do is tell us what you've done with Henry Allen," says Joe, "then you can have a nice rest. In your cells."

He and Cisco handcuff the tricksters, then Cisco grabs a hypo from Caitlin and marches Trickster junior off to the infirmary.

"What are you doing to my son and heir?" demands Trickster senior.

"Nothing we're not about to do to you," says Wells, picking up another hypo and filling it. He looks so menacing that Trickster senior turns pale. He strains ineffectively against his cuffs as Caitlin rolls up his sleeve and swabs his arm with alcohol.

"See, we're taking good... _care_ of you," Wells says, tapping the hypo with his forefinger then advancing on Trickster senior and plunging it into his bared arm.

"Help! Murder!" bellows Trickster senior.

"It's okay," soothes Caitlin. "Just a nice little dose of truth drug."

Trickster senior starts to laugh. "Truth drug? You gotta be kidding me. Truth drugs don't work on me, lady."

"This one will," Dr Wells says with confidence, thinking it's a good thing Gideon has this particular future formula stored in its memory banks.

And sure enough, it's not long before the helplessly giggling trickster divulges the information they need - information confirmed by Cisco's separate interrogation of Trickster junior, who also discloses that they've rigged up a booby trap to foil any attempted rescue.

"Not a problem for a speedster," says Wells, smiling at Barry.

"I'm on it," says Barry, smiling back.

/\/

The tricksters have indeed rigged a booby trap, but, forewarned, Barry's in and out like a flash; he and Henry have hit the sidewalk outside the tricksters' hideout before the heavy weight crashes to the ground. Barry pushes back his hood, grins at his dad.

The revelation that Barry's the Flash comes as no surprise to Henry Allen, who's long suspected it. 

"You always did look good in red," he chuckles, hugging his son hard.

When they arrive back at S.T.A.R. Labs there's no sign of Joe or the tricksters.

"He took them in to the CCPD precinct for booking," explains Cisco. "He says he can trust you, sir," nodding at Henry Allen, "to stay put until he gets back."

Henry's looking around the lab in awe. "Half this stuff didn't even exist when I was practising." he says.

"Yeah, well, I'd be happy to give you a crash course on all of it if you get out," volunteers Cisco, then winces. "I'm gonna shut up now."

"It's okay," Henry tells him, smiling round at them all. Caitlin comes up and gives him a hug, then he goes over to Dr Wells, sitting in his wheelchair.

"Joe tells me you and Barry are kinda an item," he says. "And I guess you know he's not too pleased about it."

Barry's not sure where this is going; he comes to stand defensively behind Harrison Wells, his hand on his shoulder. But Henry's still smiling.

"I don't agree with Joe on this," he says. "I'm happy for you guys."

"Really?" Barry says.

"Yeah, really. Dr Wells, I know I can trust you to take good care of my son."

"Absolutely," Harrison says. "Your son is an extraordinary man, Dr Allen." He puts his hand in his pocket. "And that reminds me, I've been meaning to give him this." He reaches up to Barry's hand, presses something into it. Barry reflexively closes his hand on a small, metal object.

"What is it, Barry?" asks Henry.

Barry holds out his hand, opens it. Lying on his palm is a key.

"It's a key to my house," says Harrison Wells.


	26. Chapter 26

That evening Barry's standing outside Harrison's house again. But this time he doesn't need to press the buzzer; he's already got the key Harrison gave him in his hand. He's no sooner through the door than Harrison greets him with a hug.

"Hey," Barry says, eyebrows raised, hugging him back. "What's this for?"

"Just because," Harrison says.

Barry smiles at him. "I wanna thank you for trusting me with a key," he says. "I know how much you value your privacy."

Harrison makes a throwaway gesture. "I guess I don't have too many secrets from you anymore, Barry." He chuckles. "In any case, now I've taught you how to phase with the Speed Force, you can run through my walls anytime you want."

Barry's face drops. "I hadn't even _thought_ of doing that." He pulls the key out of his pocket, looks at it ruefully. "So, what, you were kinda making a virtue outta necessity, huh?"

The crease between Harrison's eyebrows deepens with his frown. "No!" he protests. "Never think that, Barry. I know you. I know you wouldn't use your power to breach my privacy - _anyone's_ privacy." He takes Barry's hand, closes it around the key. "Besides, this is kinda symbolic, don't you think?"

Barry isn't quite sure what he means, but nods and puts the key back in his pocket anyway.

"I got a lot to thank you for today," he tells Harrison, his face serious. "Saving my life - helping me rescue my dad -"

Harrison grimaces. "The least I could do."

"Yeah... hey, Joe's really impressed with that truth drug of yours. I think he'd like to steal some and use it on you."

"Hmmm," Harrison says drily. "Thanks for the warning. I must be sure to synthesise some antidote." He sinks into a chair, laces his fingers together behind his head. "Soooooo... what do you think of the Speed Force?"

"Awesome!" Barry says enthusiastically. "I've never felt anything like it." He drops to his knees beside Harrison's chair, puts his hand on Harrison's thigh. "Thank you for talking me through that."

"My pleasure."

"Yeah..." Barry eyes Harrison thoughtfully. "The way you sounded - when you were talking about the Speed Force - you really miss it, don't you?"

Harrison shrugs. "I do get it back from time to time." He nods in the direction of his wheelchair, abandoned in a corner. "The tech in that helps me absorb some." He heaves a sigh. "But, gotta say, I do miss relying on it 24/7."

"It is amazing, isn't it," Barry says, his eyes misty.

Harrison looks at him fondly. "Only one thing compares."

"What's that?"

"Sex with you."

\/\

Barry's reaching over to switch off the bedside light when Harrison stops him.

"No," he says. "I wanna be able to see you - as we're making love."

He feasts his eyes on Barry: young, blushing, naked. _Adorable_. He passes his hand up and down Barry's arm, feeling the hard muscle under the smooth skin; buries his face in Barry's body, inhaling his scent. 

"Perfect..." he breathes.

Barry giggles. "You're tickling me," he complains.

A wicked light comes into Harrison's eyes. He grins. _He'll show Barry what tickling is._ His long fingers play mercilessly up and down Barry's ribs, probing for weaknesses. Soon Barry's helpless with laughter, thrashing about under his tormentor.

"Your cock seems to like it, anyway," chuckles Harrison, glancing downward at Barry's burgeoning erection. He spares a hand from the tickling to encourage it. But that's a mistake; Barry takes advantage of his distraction to grab his tickling hand, immobilising it. They stare into each other's eyes for a long moment.

And then they're kissing - deeply, intensely passionately kissing - and all thought of tickling is forgotten.

Somehow, Barry's manoeuvred himself on top, propped up on his elbows, his lower body moving rhythmically over Harrison's, their cocks brushing together with increasing speed. Remembering the last time Barry attempted frottage, Harrison's wary.

"Hey, wait," he murmurs. "Lemme show you something."

He deftly flips Barry over, positions himself on top. But instead of moving up and down, he keeps his cock lined up on Barry's so they just touch, and begins to vibrate. Barry's own cock is soon vibrating in sympathy against his. Delicious thrills shoot through Harrison, and judging by his darkened pupils, through Barry too.

But then Harrison suddenly thinks of something, stops vibrating, rolls off Barry.

"Hey!" Barry protests. "Don't stop!"

"Just - a - minute," grunts Harrison, reaching for the drawer in the bedside table, rooting around inside. " _Ah_."

He pulls out a tube of lube and half a dozen of Cisco's energy patches, tosses them on the bed. While Barry peels off the protective strip from three of the patches and sticks them to his arm, Harrison squirts lube into his palm and applies it to his cock. He has to use all his self control not to come right there: the sight of Barry, young, eager, getting ready for a lengthy sex session, plus the sensation of cool lube on heated cock, nearly get the better of him.

"Maybe I better ask Cisco to engineer those frequency-dependent cock rings of his after all," he mutters, squirting out more lube and slathering it over Barry's cock, which vibrates eagerly under his hand in response.

Looking down at Barry, Harrison feels a great surge of love. How can he bear to lose him? What was he thinking, making returning home, making the wormhole only Barry can create, his focus for so many years? But, he has to go through with it now. Barry deserves his shot at undoing the wrong that Eobard Thawne did him fifteen years ago. He deserves the chance to save his mom, reunite his family.

Barry's finished attaching his patches, and is looking enquiringly up at him. Harrison pushes all thoughts of the wormhole and future loss to the back of his mind, and prepares to live in the here and now...

/\/

Barry, too, remembers the time his over-enthusiastic frotting set their underpants on fire; he's glad Harrison is showing him a better way. Looking up at his lover, he wonders what he's thinking. Harrison looks far away, sad, all his earlier glee when tickling Barry quite gone. Barry sighs. Of course: Harrison must be regretting the Speed Force, must be longing to get home and regain the future he's lost. It's up to Barry to create that wormhole and give it to him, in spite of the misgivings he's been feeling lately.

But then Harrison seems to pull himself back from whatever brink he's been peering over, and his hands, lips and tongue soon coax Barry away from dark thoughts too.

Rain is drumming on the roof now. A flash of lightning rips through the room, followed seconds later by a clap of thunder. But Barry pays the weather little attention, caught up in their love-making. Harrison is kissing him passionately, tongue probing his mouth, while their cocks vibrate together, sending shocks throughout Barry's body.

Then he feels Harrison grab his calves, pulling them up; realising what he wants, Barry hooks his legs over Harrison's shoulders. Harrison has his hands on Barry's ass, kneading his ass cheeks, moaning with desire. Two fingers thrust into Barry's asshole. Barry cries out. Harrison's cock is vibrating against Barry's balls, now. His hand closes around Barry's own vibrating cock; with a shock Barry feels Harrison's fingers withdraw from his ass, his cock replace them.

And then Harrison's plunging into him, again and again, brushing his prostate with every stroke. Barry screams, on the brink of orgasm; Harrison tugs on his cock, tipping him over the edge.

Maybe it's because his first experience of the Speed Force is so recent, maybe it's Harrison's declaration that the only thing to compare to it is sex between them. Whatever it is, Barry feels speed-force echoes thrilling through every nerve in his body as he comes.


	27. Chapter 27

"What say we go on a river trip for our honeymoon?" Ronnie wraps his arms around Caitlin, smiles into her eyes.

"Honeymoon?" asks Caitlin. "We haven't fixed our wedding date yet."

"The wedding's the easy part," grins Ronnie. "We could run away to Vegas - get married by an Elvis impersonator."

Caitlin giggles.

"Or," goes on Ronnie, turning serious, "Martin Stein has offered to marry us. Seems he's a rabbi, as well as professor of nuclear physics."

"Oh, Ronnie," sights Caitlin, lifting her lips to his.

They're really getting into the kiss when a loud cough interrupts them, makes them break apart. Embarrassed, they look around. Harrison Wells and Barry Allen are standing by the door to the lab, grinning at them.

"I thought you were working the night shift, Ronnie," Harrison says, sitting down in his wheelchair and gliding towards them.

"Yeah, I was just on my way out," Ronnie says. "Hey, Dr Wells, I've good news for you."

"Oh?" asks Harrison.

"Yeah. The particle accelerator. It's almost ready."

A fleeting look of shock crosses Harrison's face; he glances sideways at Barry. "That's - good," he says, his face now unreadable. "Well done, Ronnie."

Compared to Harrison, Barry sucks at hiding his feelings. His expressive face also shows shock, but in his case it's followed by dismay, then reluctant acceptance. He's already thought this through: he must help Harrison achieve his heart's desire of returning home to the future. He just hadn't realised how hard it would be...

Harrison is heading for the door. "I'll go check it out," he says.

"Hartley's still down there," Ronnie calls after him. "He'll fill you in." He puts his hand on Barry's arm to hold him back when Barry makes a move to follow Harrison. "Better not," he advises. "Hartley Rathaway hates you, Barry. Leave it to Dr Wells. He'll get more outta Hartley without you there."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Barry mutters under his breath, watching Harrison Wells's wheelchair disappearing along the corridor.

/\/

Down in the accelerator chamber Hartley Rathaway's just finished writing up the night's log when Harrison Wells wheels in.

"Hello, Harrison," he says, tapping _enter_ on his pad. "Might as well get outta that baby buggy of yours. Nobody's gonna see you down here."

Harrison nods, gets out of his wheelchair, comes to stand beside Hartley. "Ronnie tells me the accelerator's about ready to go active."

"Yeah," Hartley says. "Though there's a coupla things still worry me."

"Oh?"

"A stable power source, for one," Hartley says, putting away his electronic pad.

"Leave that to me," Harrison says confidently. He's planning to use future tech for this, but no need to let Hartley into all his secrets.

Hartley scowls, sensing Harrison is holding out on him.

"What's the other thing bothering you?" Harrison asks quickly, hoping to distract him.

"Oh, yeah. Those metahumans you got locked up down here. You do know they're toast when the particle accelerator goes live, don't you?"

"We've discussed it, yes," Harrison says. "Barry thinks he can get the Arrow to take them off our hands, stow them someplace safe."

"Barry!" Hartley exclaims jealously. "Your little pet. So you've been _discussing_ it with him, huh? Didn't bother to _discuss_ it with me, did you?"

"Hartley -" Harrison says, shrugging helplessly. "Hartley, you know Barry and I are - together - now. I thought you were okay with that." He pats Hartley's arm, tries a placatory grin. "Aren't you getting on just fine with David Singh? You did say he's your type..."

Hartley snatches his arm away petulantly. "He may be my type," he says, "but he's hung up on that stupid boyfriend of his." He shoots a black look at Harrison, mutters, "Just like you're hung up on stupid _Barry_."

"Hey," Harrison protests. "Barry's not stupid. He's smart as well as fast."

"Yeah, his farts smell of roses and he craps unicorn sparkles," grumbles Hartley. "So tell me. What is this 'brilliant' -" he sketches sarcastic air quotes with his forefingers "- plan of his for the metahumans, anyway?"

Harrison hesitates.

"I think I've the right to know," Hartley says, his voice rising. "Coulda been me, you know? You had _me_ locked up down there for a while."

"Okay," Harrison says. "You don't need to worry about the metahumans; they'll be treated well. We just don't want them loose creating havoc. The Arrow has connections with a setup holding maximum security prisoners on a remote island. They won't get away from there."

"And how are you getting them to this island? Or hasn't wonder boy _Barry_ thought that one through?"

"It's all under control," Harrison says tightly. "We'll have a plane coming in to collect them. We just need to get them to the airstrip."

\/\

So I told him everything's under control," Harrison tells his team, "and all we need do is get the metahumans to the airstrip." He looks round at them all. "That is gonna be okay, right?"

Barry shrugs. "I called Oliver while you were down in the accelerator chamber," he says. "Ferris Air can send a plane first thing tomorrow morning."

"And getting them there?" asks Harrison.

"No problem," Cisco says. "My uncle's got a truck I can borrow."

Caitlin looks worried. "We'll need need some way of keeping them under control while they're in transit. I'm not sure any of my sedatives would work on metahumans."

Cisco frowns thoughtfully. "We could try freezing them?" he suggests.

"Yeah, I could go ask Captain Cold for help," Barry says. Everyone stares at him in disbelief. Barry raises his hands defensively. "Only kidding."

"I can build us another cold gun in a matter of hours," Cisco says confidently.

"Yes, do that, Cisco," Harrison says. "And, Barry, we'd better schedule a session with the treadmill. I need to make absolutely sure you'll be fast enough when the time comes."

"Okay," Barry says, his face clouding. "But it better be this evening. I gotta go catch up on my work at the precinct now."

"Right," Harrison says. "This evening it is. Then we'll go straight home." Without even realising it, he's now come to think of his house with Barry in it as home, and given a choice, he'd forget about the home he came from in the future, forget about that wretched wormhole.

But he doesn't have a choice; he's committed to helping Barry go back fifteen years to save his mother.

"Straight home," he repeats.

Time is running out fast for them now, and he wants to make the most of what little they have left.


	28. Chapter 28

When Barry gets back to S.T.A.R. Labs that evening Harrison Wells is alone, intent on some electronic components on the bench in front of him.

"Where is everyone?" asks Barry.

"I gave them time off," Harrison replies, not looking up from his work. "I need to focus on this."

Barry watches him in silence for a while. Everything about Harrison Wells in this moment speaks of concentration: pursed lips, downswept eyelashes, skilful fingers manipulating the miniature components.

He also looks damn sexy. Barry realises he's starting to get hard, shifts uneasily, surreptitiously reaches inside his pants to adjust himself.

Some sixth sense seems to tell Harrison what Barry's doing; without looking up he says irritably, "Stop playing with yourself and get started on the treadmill. I'll join you when I've finished this."

Pouting, Barry comes closer, props his hip on the bench. "What is it? Can I help?"

"An improved power source for the particle accelerator, and no, you can't."

Barry stares at the intricate circuitry in bafflement. "I've never seen anything like this before."

Harrison swears, slams the smallest soldering iron Barry's ever seen into its stand. "Of course you haven't. It's future tech."

"Oh. Wow. Did you bring it with you from the future?"

"No. How would I know I'd need it?" Harrison says, exasperatedly pushing his fingers through his hair. "Fortunately Gideon has all the blueprints and data sheets I need."

Barry picks up one of the tiny integrated circuit boards, marvelling at its complexity. "So how -?"

Harrison takes it from him, sets it firmly back on the bench. "I had to get an electronics firm in this time to manufacture them." He leans back, stretches, sighs. "Took a helluva time for them to get these in spec."

"How long have you been -?"

"Barry. Treadmill. NOW."

Barry scowls. He's not used to Harrison ignoring him like this, and for something that's going to take Harrison away from him, too, if this wormhole plan works. Determined to make Harrison notice him, Barry collects his workout singlet, jockstrap and running shorts from his locker, and changes into them then and there in the lab, right in front of Harrison's nose, making a big play out of fitting his burgeoning erection into his jock.

Harrison's fingers tighten on the soldering iron; his knuckles turn white. "Barry. _Please_. I'll join you as soon as I can."

Barry finishes dressing, picks up a towel, slings it over his shoulder. "Better hurry," he grins.

Harrison returns to his soldering, trying - and almost succeeding - in ignoring Barry's cute ass in his tight white running shorts as he saunters cockily out of the lab.

\/\

When Harrison finally makes it into the S.T.A.R. Labs gym, Barry's white running shorts are dark with sweat. Harrison feasts his eyes on the young man standing beside the treadmill. Not only the shorts, but also the stains on his singlet, the sheen on his biceps, bear witness to his exertions.

Barry catches sight of Harrison in the mirror and turns toward him. "Doesn't look like I made it all the way up to mach 2 yet," he says, tapping the treadmill's illuminated readout.

Harrison examines it. "Hmmm. Close. And this is an average anyway." He squeezes the hard muscle of Barry's bicep. "Get back on, try again. I'll monitor you."

Barry obediently hops back onto the treadmill; soon he's just a blur. Harrison watches digits flickering on the display: 1450 mph - 1475 - 1500 - 1525, over mach 2. He's done it!

Harrison raises his thumb to indicate success. Barry immediately slows the treadmill down till he's running at almost-human speed. Seized by a sudden impulse, Harrison jumps up behind him, matching his pace. Barry looks over his shoulder at him, grins teasingly, accelerates. Although he knows it's dangerous, Harrison throws caution to the winds and stays right with him. Soon he's grabbed Barry from behind and is humping against him, both still running at superspeed.

"Woah!" Barry shouts. He slams his hand on the treadmill's big red STOP button, the treadmill grinds to a halt, and Barry hangs over its handrail, chest heaving.

Harrison yanks down Barry's running shorts and whistles appreciatively at the sight of his pert buttocks, perfectly framed by waist and ass straps, his hole completely accessible.

"You should wear a jock more often," Harrison says, his voice hoarse, as he slides two fingers, slick with sweat, into Barry's hole.

Barry moans, reaches down, pulls his cock out of his jockstrap's pouch. Harrison's frantically tugging one-handed at his zipper to free himself, muttering under his breath, "Fuck, Barry, I want you so bad -"

The raw need in his voice goes straight to Barry's cock; before he knows it he's spurting come into his hand. "Fuck me, Harrison. Fuck me NOW," he mumbles, bonelessly bent over the treadmill's handrail, arms dangling.

Harrison grabs Barry's hand, uses his spunk to slick up his own cock. But maybe he hasn't used enough; when he tries to withdraw after slamming in balls-deep, he finds he can't. Barry's asshole is gripping him so tightly his cock stetches almost painfully as he pulls back.

"O-kay," he pants, thrusting harder and harder, cresting the wave of sensation for what seems an eternity before crashing on the other side, slumped helpless over Barry as he comes and comes and comes.

/\/

"Guess we better lock up and go home," Harrison says.

They're outside S.T.A.R. Labs, Barry shrugging on his jacket, Harrison getting into his wheelchair. Something - the speed running, the fucking, some combination - has depleted Harrison's reserve of Speed Force to such an extent Barry has to help him into the chair. Judging by the smile on his face, though, it was all worth it.

"What about the night shift?" asks Barry. "Ronnie, Professor Stein - Hartley Rathaway."

If his voice changes on the last name, Harrison doesn't notice. "Oh, I gave them time off, too," he says. "Wasn't sure how long I'd need to get that power supply finished."

"And is it? Finished?"

"Yep. Just need to install it, and I'll do that tomorrow once the metahumans are outta here."

Barry nods. "Cisco ready?"

"Yeah, he built a new cold gun this afternoon while you were at the precinct. And he's got the truck lined up."

Harrison points his remote, arms the S.T.A.R. Labs alarm. Its chirp is echoed by a deeper buzz from Barry's pocket.

"Oh, my phone," he says, digging it out, thumbing it on. "Hi, Cisco. We were just talking about you."

He listens for a moment, grins, looks at Harrison. "It's Cisco," he says. "He's with Caitlin and Ronnie at a karaoke bar. They wanna know if we wanna join them."

Harrison laughs. "You sure they want me with you?" He points to his chest. "Still the most hated man in the city, right here."

"Of course they do," Barry says. "And I'm not going without you."

"Sure you wanna go, Barry?" Harrison says, raising his eyebrows. " _Karaoke_?"

Barry grins. "Sure. It's gonna be fun."


	29. Chapter 29

"Told you it would be fun," Barry grins, turning from the bar with their drinks precariously balanced between his palms. "And everyone's too rat arsed to care about you being here."

Harrison reaches up from his wheelchair, takes his and Cisco's drinks from Barry, puts them on the little table they've commandeered. Caitlin and Ronnie are currently up on the stage, bawling out a tuneless version of "Summer Nights". Barry raises his glass to them, takes a swig of his vodka, sits down beside Harrison.

"Thanks, Barry," Cisco says, picking up his drink. "How'd it go on the treadmill?" Seeing Barry blush and Harrison look deadpan, he instantly twigs what's been going on. "Just the running part," he says, holding up his hand, palm out, in a _stop_ gesture. "I don't wanna know what _else_ you two been doing with it."

Barry splutters into his drink. "How did you -?" he begins, then stops, blushing more than ever.

Cisco grins at him, taps his nose. "I got a video feed from the S.T.A.R. Labs gym on my iPad."

Harrison gives him a hard stare. "Ignore him, Barry. He's winding you up. _Aren't you_ , Cisco."

Cisco tries to look nonchalant, thinks he'd better change the subject. "Hey, Barry, why're you jiggling your glass like that?"

"Uh, well, it's a neat trick Harrison showed me. Remember I couldn't get drunk? Well, this helps the alcohol to hit."

"Sick," Cisco says admiringly. "So, how _did_ things go on the treadmill? Running-wise?"

"Up to mach 2," Barry says proudly.

" _Over_ mach 2," corrects Harrison.

"Way to go, my man!" says Cisco, leaning across the table for a fist bump with Barry.

Up on stage, Caitlin and Ronnie have finished their song. The crowd erupts into applause, with a few jeers and catcalls thrown in. Cisco hammers his fist on the table, whooping loudly, then knocks back the rest of his drink.

"C'mon, Barry," he says, jumping up and grabbing Barry's hand. "Our turn."

/\/

"The downside to being able to get drunk," Barry says, yawning and bleary eyed. "is the hangover the next morning."

Caitlin adjusts her dark glasses, winces. "I sympathise. Here, have some of my patent hangover cure." She starts to pour out a dose for him, but her hand's shaking so badly Harrison takes the beaker from her and completes the job himself.

"You're a pair of wimps," Cisco says, pulling his new cold gun out of its storage locker and examining it carefully. "Are we ready to go, guys?"

Barry swings his glassful of Caitlin's hangover cure, belches, wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. "All set. Plane should be at the airstrip in -" he squints at his watch "- about forty minutes."

"Better get going," Harrison says. "Caitlin, Cisco, come with me down to the containment cells and we'll get the metahumans ready to load up. Barry, can you zoom ahead and make sure the road's clear?"

"Sure," Barry says. "Got your uncle's truck sorted, Cisco?"

"Yeah, it's parked out back," Cisco says. "I made a few modifications, should dampen our metahumans' powers while they're in it." He hefts the cold gun. "Any problems, I got this."

He and Caitlin leave the lab, heading for the basement. Harrison hesitates a moment, puts his arm around Barry's shoulders.

"Sure you're okay, Barry?"

Barry's already dressed in his Flash suit. He grins at Harrison. "I'm fine," he says, pulling the hood down over his face.

Harrison looks unsure, but nods, lets go of Barry after a final hug.

"See you later," he says.

But Barry's already out the door; zipping through the city streets, setting up road blocks, diverting traffic. Ensuring safe passage to the airstrip for the truckload of metahumans. And all goes well, right up to the moment they arrive.

To find Captain David Singh and a posse of the CCPD's finest waiting for them.

/\/

Everything's in chaos: cops milling around brandishing guns; Caitlin trying to turn the truck around, being stopped by a CCPD van; Joe West confronting Barry, who pushes him aside when he sees who Captain Singh is talking to - Hartley Rathaway. So that's who they have to thank for this. Boiling with rage, Barry stalks over to him.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" he shouts.

Hartley looks far too pleased with himself. "Time someone took the great Harrison Wells down a peg or two," he sneers. "Thinks he's above the law. Well, he's about to learn he's not." He looks at Captain Singh. "And David here wasn't too pleased to hear the true identity of the Flash, _Barry Allen_. You might as well take that stupid hood off now."

Captain Singh narrows his eyes. "Is this true?"

But Barry's distracted by shouts behind him; he swings round to see what's going on.

A fight has broken out around the back of the truck. Two cops are trying to open its tailgate; Cisco's trying to stop them, trying to explain about the damping field controlling the metahumans, but they won't listen. Then Cisco's on the ground, his cold gun taken away from him. The metahumans are out of the truck. A brave - or stupid - cop tries to stop them, gets gassed by The Mist. Joe shouts a warning to the rest of the cops to back off. Barry runs to help.

And finds himself staring straight into the eyes of Rainbow Raider.

\/\

Back at S.T.A.R. Labs, Harrison Wells has just finished installing the particle accelerator's new power source. Pleased with himself, he returns to the main lab to check on a simulator batch file he's left running. He's settling down in front of the computer when his phone rings; glancing at the display, he sees it's Caitlin.

Harrison frowns. Has something gone wrong? Maybe he should have gone with them after all...

"Hi, Caitlin. Woah, steady. Tell me again. Slowly."

Caitlin sounds almost hysterical as she explains what's happened. "You've got to get here _now_ , Dr Wells," she finishes. "Or Barry will kill him!"

Harrison swears, presses the ring on his finger, gets into his Reverse Flash suit. It's a good thing he was forced to spend the previous evening in his wheelchair after all; please heaven he's absorbed enough Speed Force for what he has to do. Pausing only to grab a set of battery-operated coloured lights, he zooms out of the lab -

\- and arrives at the airstrip with seconds to spare; Barry, his face contorted with hatred, has Hartley Rathaway on the ground and is methodically choking the life out of him.

As far as everyone else is concerned, a yellow streak appears out of nowhere, and suddenly the Flash has gone. Joe yells for someone to call an ambulance, and begins giving CPR to Hartley Rathaway.

At a safe distance, Harrison shines the disco lights into Barry's eyes until he's sure he's back to normal. But he can't help remembering the look on Barry's face as he tried to kill Hartley Rathaway.

"In all the time I've known you," he tells Barry soberly, "I've seen no sign, no trace, of the future Flash; the one I hated, the one I came here to kill." Harrison pauses, swallows hard.

"Until just now."


	30. Chapter 30

The two speedsters zoom back to S.T.A.R. Labs in silence; there seems nothing to say. There they find Professor Stein at the most powerful workstation in the lab, frowning over columns of figures on the display. He looks up as they come in.

"How's it going?" asks Harrison, pushing back his yellow hood and raking his fingers through his hair. "We need to hurry. Captain Singh will probably be here in a minute to arrest Barry for murdering Hartley Rathaway."

"I didn't kill him!" protests Barry, also pushing back his hood. He's almost in tears.

"Only because I stopped you."

Martin Stein looks between them, wisely decides to stay out of it. He taps the screen with his pen. "There's a problem, Harrison. I don't think you told us everything about this wormhole."

Harrison immediately goes to look over his shoulder at the display. "How do you mean? All the readouts show we're good to go."

"I mean this," Martin Stein says, enlarging a simulation diagram to show an ominous dark blob. "This singularity the wormhole will cause."

"That? That's nothing to worry about," Harrison says airily, "provided Barry completes his task within one minute fifty-two seconds of the wormhole opening. If we can close it down by then, all will be well."

"And if I can't?" Barry asks.

"Of course you can," Harrison says firmly. "I believe in you."

They stare at each other. "Even though -" Barry's beginning, when he's interrupted by a voice behind him.

"Hey, guys."

It's Cisco. He and Caitlin walk into the lab; Barry's relieved to see they're both smiling.

"What happened?" asks Barry, at the same time as Harrison says, "How's Hartley?"

"Little prick's in hospital," Cisco says. "Expected to make a full recovery. More's the pity."

Caitlin hugs Barry. "It wasn't your fault. Rainbow Raider -"

"Thanks, Caitlin," Barry says. "But we all know I had to have that stuff inside of me for him to be able to bring it out."

"I'd murder the little shit like a shot," Cisco says, trying to be helpful. "How'd he know our plans anyway?"

Harrison coughs. "Is anybody pressing charges?"

"Hardly," Cisco says. "It's their fault a truckload of dangerous metahumans got released back into the wild. And by wild, I mean Central City." He turns to Barry. "Captain Singh wants an urgent word with _you_ , though."

"Particle accelerator's stabilised," Professor Stein interrupts. "We're ready to roll."

"I'll go into the accelerator ring," Harrison says, "make a final check down there."

Barry's about to follow him out of the lab when Cisco calls him back. "I almost forgot," he says. "Tell Dr Wells his time bubble's almost done. Ronnie's just finishing off the heatproof coating now."

/\/

"So what's this time bubble?" Barry demands. "Cisco says to tell you it's almost done."

"Oh - just a precaution," Harrison says. "In case my speed deserts me in the wormhole at a crucial moment."

"Ah, right," Barry says. Somehow this brings it home to him: he may never see Harrison again.

"Uh, about Hartley Rathaway -" he begins awkwardly.

Harrison squeezes Barry's arm. "Forget it, Barry," he says. "It's not like you don't have a lot to forgive me for."

"Yeah, but -"

"Barry," Harrison interrupts, his face set. "I've checked down here; everything's okay. You're good to go."

Barry nods. He pulls his hood down over his face; Harrison can no longer tell what he's thinking. He reaches out to him, hesitates, lets his arm drop.

"Harrison?"

"Nothing. Go save your mother. Run, Barry. _Run_."

And Barry's off around the accelerator ring. Up in the lab, Professor Stein monitors his speed; up to mach 1 - faster - faster- " _Come on Barry_ \- yes!" He punches the air. "Over mach 2! Inject the hydrogen particle."

Cisco's fingers flicker over the controls. "Done."

On the screen they see evidence of the wormhole forming; down in the midst of it, Barry gasps as everything becomes surreal.

As he runs, he's surrounded by ghostly figures: himself as a boy; himself, older, talking to his father by phone through the grille at Iron Heights; Joe West with a young Iris; somebody who looks almost like Caitlin but with blonde hair. His ears are filled with a rushing sound. The images around him become clearer: Harrison running behind him on the S.T.A.R. Labs treadmill; Harrison's hotel bedroom, himself frotting so fast he sets their underwear on fire; Harrison bending over him in the S.T.A.R. Labs infirmary, carefully removing grenade shards from his flesh...

Then Barry hears Harrison's familiar voice in his earpiece, as on so many missions: calm, in control, keeping him grounded.

"Barry. You're in touch with the universe now: past, present, future. You need to concentrate on where, on _when_ , you want to go. Fifteen years ago, Barry. Concentrate. Go back to that night..."

And, suddenly, Barry's there.

He's up in his old bedroom, water's rising mysteriously from the fish tank, there's a scream from downstairs. Running down, he pauses behind the sitting room door, sees himself as a young boy staring, horrified, at the yellow and red streaks whirling madly around the room. Future him and Eobard Thawne, fighting it out. Then future him momentarily gets the upper hand, grabs his young self and dashes out with him. Barry's about to run into the room when future him briefly reappears, looks straight at him and shakes his head, no. He holds his hand up in a _stop_ gesture to reinforce the message: Barry isn't to interfere.

Heartbroken, Barry obeys; watches numbly as his mother is stabbed and Eobard Thawne escapes. Only then does he run forward and hold her as she dies, his only consolation that she recognises him and understands that he is safe.

His cheeks streaked with tears, Barry re-enters the wormhole. Already he's wondering if he's done the right thing. He hasn't saved his mother after all. It was all for nothing - worse than nothing, for he's lost Harrison, the man he loves, who must be back in his own time by now.

\/\

But when Barry tumbles out of the wormhole onto his knees in the accelerator ring, Harrison's still there, waiting for him.

"Didn't the time bubble work?" Barry asks. "Has _everything_ gone wrong? Couldn't you even get home?"

Harrison shakes his head. "I didn't try, Barry. Oh, I thought about it. But then I realised, now _you_ are my home." He grabs Barry's hands, pulls him to his feet. Behind him, the wormhole winks out of existence. "While there was a chance I could be with you - I stayed."

Barry can hardly believe it. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't wanna influence your choices. I meant it when I said you could undo the evil I did; I didn't wanna risk stopping you saving your mother."

Barry laughs harshly. "No. Future me did that. He warned me not to interfere." He tugs at his hair. "But should I have paid attention to him? Did I make a big mistake?"

Harrison gives Barry a long look, the creases deepening between his eyebrows. "Do you wanna try again?"

Barry hesitates, torn. But they'll never know what he would have decided, because at that moment Cisco rushes in, shouting, "Guys, we're in big trouble!"

Harrison turns on him. "Didn't you shut the wormhole down?"

"Yeah, we did that as soon as Barry got back. But it's opening up again, outside the lab this time, and all the readouts say it's unstable. Professor Stein thinks it's in danger of collapsing into a singularity - and taking everything with it!"

Barry and Harrison stare at each other. "Do you think _he_ planned this?" asks Barry. "Future me? To collapse this timeline - so his could carry on unchanged?"

Remembering the future Barry Allen, Harrison thinks this is precisely what that calculating bastard would do, but he can't bear to say so to _this_ Barry.

"Who knows?" he says. "Time's tricky. The question is, can we stabilise the wormhole?"

They hurry back up to the lab, to find Professor Stein, Ronnie and Caitlin clustered round the big display.

"Have you tried -" Harrison begins.

"Everything," Professor Stein says. "We've tried everything."

One look at the display confirms Harrison's worst fears. "We gotta get outta here."

Out on the sidewalk passers-by have come to a halt, staring upwards to where bits of debris are already beginning to disappear into what looks like a hole in the sky.

"It's like a tornado," Barry says, "only upside down. If I run around it in the opposite direction, like I did with the tornado -"

"It contains far too much energy for that," interrupts Professor Stein. "You'd just get sucked into it yourself."

"I have to try!" Barry shouts, and with that he's off, streaking up a skyscraper, finding footholds wherever he can.

"He'll never make it!" shouts Professor Stein.

"On his own, maybe not," Harrison says, pulling his hood down over his face. "But with two of us - who knows?"

And the little group - Cisco, Caitlin, Ronnie, Martin Stein - stare upwards, transfixed, as a second blur zooms up the skyscraper to join the first; watch the yellow and red streaks - Barry and Harrison, Flash and Reverse Flash - merging, circling the singularity, weaving in and out of the roiling black cloud.

To save the city, keep their timeline intact. To give themselves a future.

Together.

/\/ \/\ The End \/\ /\/


End file.
